Why Participate in the Support Group?

How helping others can help you!

Receiving feedback in the Support Group compels many members to post in the forums, but did you know that helping other members can have more therapeutic benefits than receiving help from other members? (Schwarts, 2003) It is true, the therapeutic benefits of altruism have been known for quite some time now. Dr. Stephen G. Post reaffirms, "There is a striking amount of evidence to support the hypothesis that benevolent emotions, attitudes and actions centered on the good of others contribute to the giver’s happiness, health and even longevity." (Post, 2009) Actively participating in the support group is a great way to help others and in return help yourself!

Start helping now and support fellow members, visit the Support Group.

If you would like tips on how you can help other members more effectively please read: Members Helping Members.

Need more evidence that helping others helps you? Please see below. The information below is taken from "It’s Good to be Good: Health and the Generous Heart" by Dr. Stephen G. Post.

How helping others can help you:

• Dr. Frank Riessman, a social psychologist was a big promoter of the benefits of self-help. He coined the term, "helper therapy". Based on his observations of self help groups he noted that, "…helping others is deemed absolutely essential to helping oneself."
• When you help others a primitive part of your brain is activated. This is the same part that is activated when doing other pleasurable activities like eating or having sex.
• Evolution has hard wired us to want to help each other. Individuals who acted in support of the entire group were more likely to survive as opposed to those who acted to support solely themselves.
• The 1953 Nobel Peace Prize winner Dr. Albert Schweitzer stated, "The only ones among you who will be really happy are those who have sought and found how to serve."
• Hans Selye, an endocrinologist who changed our understanding of stress, believed that one way to alleviate daily stress is to help others.
• David G. Myers a well known happiness researcher remarked, "Doing good makes us feel good. Altruism enhances our self-esteem. It gets our eyes off ourselves, makes us less self-preoccupied, gets us closer to the unself-consciousness that characterizes the flow state"
• Allen Luks, an altruistic leader, discussed the concept of "Helper’s High". In his studies, he concluded that people who helped others reported overall better health than other individuals of the same age range. According to his study, "43 percent felt stronger and more energetic, 28 percent felt warm, 22 percent felt calmer and less depressed, 21 percent experienced greater feelings of self-worth, and 13 percent experienced fewer aches and pains."
• Studies have proven that members of Alcoholics Anonymous who actively participated in helping other members were less likely to relapse then those who did not.
• A study conducted in 1983 by Larry Scherwitz recommended that a healthier heart can occur when an individual is "more giving, listens attentively when others talks and does things that are unselfish." (Post, 2009)