Volunteering helps with anxiety and stress | Hacker News Reader

Volunteering helps with anxiety and stress

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98 pointssmacktoward27 comments

I volunteer because the line in the front of the soup kitchen is a lot longer than the line for the volunteer entrance in the back. I may not get a huge feeling of accomplishment, because I'm doing quite menial tasks. But it's humbling, and its been said "never think flipping burgers is beneath you".

I also volunteer to play music for a religious service, which is a ton of fun and enriches a lot of people's lives. It's challenging and definitely provides an outlet.

Finally I give a charitable donation to a charity that I know is making a local impact and they manage their finances wisely. They give free food away to anyone no questions asked.

It's the combination of these things (giving my time away giving, using my talents, sharing some money) that bring me a lot of satisfaction about my life.

The people in Hacker News are in a special position because we're typically well-off and there are many talented people on here. I'll never chastise anyone about giving, but I wish everyone would.

The key is to find a cause to help in which you truly recognize the blessings/fortune/privilege/opportunities you have.

I've volunteered with animal shelters, geriatric hospitals, youth sports, and with veterans. Animal shelters were fun because I love animals, but they didn't humble me like working with veterans and the elderly. Every time I work with those groups, I learn more about life, and get insight into ways I could change how I'm living to be a better influence on society. I think that's the key - at least, that was the key for me.

My wife an I rescue dogs (and have cats from past rescues). We tend to specialize in French bulldogs, but may get an English soon. The ones we get are usually puppy mill throwaways, and have a lot of initial health problems. The vet bills definitely eat into our disposable income, but nothing else I have ever spent money on has made me happier.

If anyone gets a chance read up on puppy mills and how horrible they are. Go to a shelter and rescue an animal today.

And stop buying purebreds, especially trendy or short-snouted ones:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/animalia/wp/2016/08/02/w...

Completely agree. We have always rescued animals either from the pound or street (our 2 cats were found as kittens outside when my wife was capturing feral cats to get them spay/neutered). Once my wife found out more about puppy mills, and how the dogs were treated she decided to do whatever she could to combat mills. Until the laws are changed though, there isn't that much that can be done to stop them. The best an individual can do is get pets from the pound or other legit rescue, and never from a pet store (some stores partner with pounds which is fine).

Seeing as we're all giving anecdotal evidence, I personally didn't feel much of a benefit. I spent two years helping a disabled sports charity. It was enjoyable being there and I think the people organising it are wonderful.

However it didn't make me feel much better about myself or life in general. I would occasionally simply not want to go.

So I think at the very least it's no perfect solution.

That's fair. However it's worth pointing out that "selfish" reasons for volunteering can be valid! You're allowed to help yourself while helping others.

Volunteering to teach non-violent communication in a prison increased my anxiety and stress.

It was worth it, though.

This is so true. One of the benefits I found most surprising about volunteering is how much easier it is to make quality connections with people while working on a volunteer project. I suppose the simple act of signing up to volunteer probably biases the population towards extroverts but it seems like people feel more comfortable opening up while being altruistic. I thoroughly enjoy connecting with people in this way.

Keep in mind it is highly likely those connections won't survive once you are out of volunteering. Source: my experience with various volunteer activities (sometimes as organiser, sometimes as participant) and discussions about it with various people involved in such activities.

Volunteering is one of those things that is wonderful idealistically speaking but not necessarily in reality.

All too often these organizations are sought by horrible people to socialize with fellow horrible people.

My point is not that volunteering is bad (it isn't!) but that it's pretty much like any other interpersonal activity. Something magical can result from it but all too often (if you're not desperate to meet people) you waste your time with a bunch of ruthlessly selfish people.

Does anyone have advice on how to do skills based volunteering as a software engineer? Something where my software skills help a good cause. I'm currently volunteering teaching kids and teens to code every few weekends and it's okay, but looking for something higher impact if possible.

Are you volunteering with schools? I've been thinking about doing something similar, but haven't figured out the best way to get started.

Currently an organization called "Canada Learning Code".

It's a nice thought, but the mental health angle seems pretty thin on the ground here. The article eschews any actual mention of illness, clinical psychology, or psychiatry, and the volunteering-specific evidence it cites is preliminary at best.

One interesting thing is the mention/citation that helping other people being built into a job doesn't seem to have similar benefits. Another study found a similar difference for the psychological benefits of physical activity [1]. I imagine there's a significant cultural bias in the Protestant(ish) Anglosphere against "leisure is good for you", though.

[1] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21037212

Absolutely! This was my experience too. I’d like to add that it helps you to get out more and focus less on yourself, as often we over-analyse and self-doubt too much.

And no real commitment. No performance trackers, no material gains, just your best shot. Children are really awesome too - it’s amazing how they’re so small and naive, yet super curious and active. Really inspiring. If you’re interested, I recommend checking with your local school, it’s very likely that they’re short of hand. A few hours a week is enough!

Now, if only volunteering in the open source space worked this way consistently.

Surely lots of open source voluteers have good experiences and forge lasting connections. The more in-person events, videochats and phone calls you participate in, the better.

However, communication through low bandwidth text-only channels tends to lack empathy. People who are not terrible in person are terrible online. And since a disproportionate amount of open source communication occurs online, many volunteers have bad experiences.

on a related note, i recall Peter Drucker writing about how many people, executives in particular, often talk about volunteering or "giving back to the community" once they retire.

but Drucker noted that in his observation, executives who did not volunteer earlier in life were just fooling themselves, they rarely followed through with that "promise" once they retired, they failed to contribute much of anything after their career.

I don't do much volunteering aside from helping take care of cats at a cat shelter every two weeks, but I do find that it helps relieve stress. I started doing it after my own cat was very sick and almost died. The fact that he's still with us is nothing short of a miracle and it feels satisfying to be able to help care for other cats after getting so lucky (knocking wood) with my own.

Several years ago I was in need of something to do, the only problem being how to find volunteer opportunities besides mindless spaghetti-on-the-wall searches. Luckily enough I found volunteermatch.org and within a month I was in action and with a website I could return to for finding more.

After I started, I experienced similar results as stated in the article.

I am somewhat saddened that we have descended to a point of moral decay where the notion of the positive results of generosity is now breaking news.

> we have descended to a point of moral decay

Really? What is the time in the past where things were better? When you were younger, I presume?

Actually I was feeling pretty good about two years ago it is much worse now.

I don't read it that way.

I read it as people who struggle with MH usually seclude themselves, but if they get out and volunteer they will see a great benefits helping their MH.

This is not breaking news, it's a regular written article. So it's not to be put in the "we have to interrupt our current whatever to tell you about this important thing that happened".

Besides, you'd rather news about bad things ? Damned if you do, damned if you don't.

Finally, there are a lot of positive articles being pushed out everyday.

Where does sitting in your computer chair, criticizing the positive blips in a sea of moral decay fit into that worldview?

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