With the many calls to volunteer this Mandela month, I was curious to find out about the research on the mental health benefits of volunteering. And there’s quite a bit to consider on this topic!
Since the advent of Mandela Day in 2009, doing 67 minutes of volunteering on 18 July has become an annual milestone on the calendar. Of course, people do community work across this year and it’s commonplace to hear “do good; feel good”. But does the evidence actually back this popular saying up?
“Why Do I Feel Empty?”: Loneliness, Disconnection and the Search for Meaning
Loneliness and feeling disconnected are increasingly hallmarks of our society, particularly after the pandemic. Many clients I see come to therapy because they are feeling lonely or feeling like nothing matters.
These can be overwhelming emotions, which are also symptoms I evaluate when diagnosing depression. Research indicates people with stronger social relationships have a 50% increased likelihood of survival than those with weaker social relationships. This influence is comparable with the impact of smoking and alcohol consumption on mortality, and greater than the influence of other risk factors like physical inactivity and obesity. As such, it’s important not to ignore these feelings.
It’s natural, therefore, to seek a path towards renewed social integration when you come face-to-face with a feeling of loneliness. In therapy, we often explore how clients can rebuild neglected relationships or overcome their anxiety about navigating spaces where they might find new ones.
In a community-oriented society like ours, one such social space is offered by NGOs and the opportunity to participate in volunteer work. These activities have numerous benefits that go beyond the social aspect.
How Volunteering Improves Mental Health
In general, volunteering is significantly related to improved health outcomes. The “helper’s high” — the state of euphoria after acts of kindness — is attributed to endorphin release. Volunteering lowers cortisol levels, thereby reducing the body’s primary stress response.
But when we ask “does volunteering make you happier?”, there’s an important consideration to make. That is the distinction between different types of volunteering.
Other-oriented volunteering is about helping others in need and is related to altruistic work and humanitarian issues. This is best for fostering authentic, supportive relationships, social integration, self-esteem and meaning; and so it impacts health more positively.
Self-oriented volunteering is about the participant achieving reciprocal gain for both themselves and the organisation. The gains include improvements in social networks, skills, career advancement and self-knowledge. While beneficial in these numerous ways, self-oriented volunteering (unlike other-oriented volunteering) is thought not to alleviate depression.
Mental Health Benefits of Volunteering in South Africa
Many South Africans find purpose through helping others, and even see it as an important part of their identity. The philosophy of Ubuntu that runs throughout our society speaks to a natural sense of interdependence.
Ubuntu is a core value and practice in my decolonial approach to therapy. Understanding where we come from and how we relate to our families and communities offers valuable insight into ourselves. These insights can also help us to understand how we might heal from mental health challenges.
“What counts in life is not the mere fact that we have lived. It is what difference we have made to the lives of others that will determine the significance of the life we lead.”
Nelson Mandela
With these words in mind, I think Mandela speaks to the strong urge we have, as social beings, to foster connection and support others in our communities. Beyond achieving a pleasurable endorphin rush, volunteering can give us a strong sense of purpose and satisfaction.
Enjoying good mental health isn’t necessarily about happiness. Instead of asking “why am I unhappy?”, we could ask how we can develop our skills and interests, and nourish healthy connections so that we feel a greater sense of belonging and meaning, which in turn fosters wellbeing and, yes, even happiness.
Community Care as Self-Care
Going beyond individual therapy, psychologists know that clients can experience collective healing in support groups, in family therapy and in group therapy. However, this absolutely can and should also occur outside the therapy room. This is in line with a systemic approach to mental health, which considers how the individual is part of larger, interconnected systems like family or community.
We know that social connection and wellbeing are associated with each other. One mental health benefit of volunteering is that it broadens and diversifies our social networks, and in some cases, has been shown to mitigate against loneliness.
For people with severe mental disorders, volunteering can reduce self-stigma and serve as a meaningful step in personal recovery — a kind of “rehearsal” for fuller participation in community life.
By helping others, we often also benefit ourselves – from seeing loved ones healthier and happier; from greener or more inclusive public spaces; from increased trust and safety in our neighbourhoods; etc. This kind of collective healing is very important and volunteers are at the centre of these activities.
How to Start Volunteering and Manage Your Emotions
This Mandela Day and Month, you might want to give the research on the mental health benefits of volunteering a test and see for yourself. Depending on your particular goals, you might weigh up in-person versus virtual volunteering, and whether your volunteer work will be done individually or in a group.
Some mental health organisations offering volunteer opportunities in Cape Town and across South Africa:
If you’re nervous about the interpersonal aspect of joining an NGO, there are ways to mitigate that. Find something you’re passionate about and a supportive, low-pressure environment that doesn’t involve overwhelming social exposure. In this way, you can successfully volunteer with social anxiety. Volunteering isn’t therapy but the experience might actually benefit you by bolstering resilience to social anxiety.
Of course, it’s important to note that volunteering can also have its drawbacks on mental health. That happens when it becomes an overwhelming task that drains emotional resources. Many professional NGO workers, as well as volunteers, feel emotionally exhausted or suffer from compassion fatigue.
These feelings are signals to reassess how best to manage your internal resources and to seek support from other volunteers and NGO staff, and also from registered mental health workers. Learning practical tools to manage distress, for instance in a DBT skills group, can be one way of coping.
Volunteering cannot replace professional mental health support. Sometimes we try various strategies to improve our mental health and then feel disappointed that they didn’t work. The important thing is that you tried. If you are consistently feeling down or isolated, professional healthcare like talk therapy can help you navigate your emotions and find coping mechanisms that work for you so that you can do the activities you enjoy and lead a life of meaning and satisfaction.
