Another Study Shows the Benefits of Kindness

Kindness. From On the Fence with Jesus.

Longtime readers probably know that acts of kindness can improve your mood over the long term, but here's another study to heap on the pile of evidence. The Globe and Mail reports on a York University study that monitored 700 people as they performed small acts of kindness over the course of a week. Participants helped other people for 5-15 minutes a day, and still felt the positive mood effects six months later compared to a control group.

The researchers first evaluated participants' levels of depression, happiness, and self-esteem, then evaluated them again four more times over the six-month period. Lead author Myriam Mongrain says, "What’s amazing is that the time investment required for these changes to occur is so small. We’re talking about mere minutes a day."

Mongrain theorizes that compassion boosts our mood because it gives us meaning and self esteem. "If you make a conscious decision to not be so hard on others," she says, "it becomes easier to not be so hard on yourself. Furthermore, providing support to others often means that we will get support back. That is why caring for and helping others may be the best possible thing we can do for ourselves. On a less selfish level, there is something intrinsically satisfying about helping others and witnessing their gratitude."

You can read the actual study in a forthcoming issue of The Journal of Happiness Studies. Read more about this general topic in my blog post here.

Lifestyle Changes May Treat Depression as Effectively as Drugs and Counseling

From Layout Sparks wallpapers.

According to this story from Medical News Today, simple lifestyle additions like exercise, nature walks, and generosity may be just as effective as drugs and therapy for treating some mental illnesses. This information comes from a paper in the January issue of American Psychologist, the American Psychological Association's (APA) flagship journal.

The paper, authored by Dr. Roger Walsh of the University of California Irvine, reviews previous research on what he calls "therapeutic lifestyle changes" (or TLCs). Examples of TLCs include exercise, nutrition, social connection, recreation, relaxation, spiritual involvement, spending time in nature, and service to others. He says, "Lifestyle changes can offer significant therapeutic advantages for patients, therapists, and societies, yet are insufficiently appreciated, taught or utilized. In the 21st century, therapeutic lifestyles may need to be a central focus of mental, medical and public health."

Some highlights from Dr. Walsh's findings (which you may have already heard about in other contexts) include:

• Exercise helps reduce anxiety and depression, yet also improves kids' school grades, reduces age-related memory loss, and increases neurogenesis.
• Eating fruits, vegetables, and fish may reduce the symptoms of affective and schizophrenic disorders.
• Altruism can give you a "helper's high" (or "giver's high") that carries numerous physical and mental benefits.

There are a lot more, so read the actual story to see them all. A lot of this stuff may be common sense, but it's nice to have it in one place. So if you or someone you know is going through depression or a similar mental illness, try some of these lifestyle changes before spending too much money on drugs or counseling. You'll always have those more conventional methods to fall back on, and it doesn't hurt to try!

Money Creates Happiness When You Give it Away

From The Money Student.

As Christmas season descends upon us like a swarm chattering reindeer, news becomes scarcer and scarcer. Universities close up shop until the new year, so researchers have fewer and fewer studies to release. I've had to scrounge extra hard to find the news today, and I suspect that this trend will continue over the next few weeks. I may have to take a break, simply because I have nothing to post!

That's why today's news is a little bit on the stale side, but what the heck, let's post it anyway:  the Marblehead Reporter reports on a 2008 study by Harvard and the University of British Columbia that shows people are happier when giving money away. This effect happens across all income levels.

The Marblehead goes on to say that, on average, Republicans give more than Democrats, women give more than men, and the Bible belt gives more than other parts of America.

Hmm, that's about it for today's news. I told you it would be skimpy! Maybe in the next few days I can figure out something to post when there's no news. Until then, you can check out my more comprehensive post on the link between generosity and happiness.

Casual Friday: Do Random Acts of Kindness!

From Drive.

Hello and good Friday to all you in Internet-land! Today I have a very important happiness tip:  give to other people! The concept may seem obvious, but scientific evidence backs it up. Doing things for other people makes you happier.

Sonja Lyubomirsky and her team studied this in 2004. She had a group of test subjects put quarters into strangers' parking meters. By measuring the test subjects' happiness levels before and after the quartering (and comparing them to those of a control group, of course), she found that performing kind acts really does make people happier. Some call it a "giver's high." It works even if the recipient of the kind act isn't aware that you did anything (or that you even exist)!

Interestingly, Sonja's tests show that the best way to perform kind acts is to do a bunch of them all in a single day, instead of spreading them out over a week. The reason may be that pushing yourself to do one act every day becomes too routine, while doing around five all at once is more spontaneous, which keeps things fresh and makes you more likely to be kind in the future.

So give kindness a try. It can be as simple as putting quarters in a stranger's parking meter!

(For more details on this experiment and many others, check out Sonja's book, The How of Happiness.)