Reprinted from the Health District's quarterly publication mailed to district residents (Winter 2007)

It may not cure the common cold or stave off the flu, but getting into the spirit of giving – during the holiday season or anytime – may actually improve physical and mental health, not to mention it just makes people feel good.

A study out of the National Institutes of Health showed that donating causes the brain to release the same pleasurable feelings as when receiving monetary rewards: people felt just as good giving as they did receiving.

A number of studies show patients who reach out to help other patients recovered faster than those who didn’t. A study by Duke University showed recovering heart patients who volunteered to visit other heart patients experienced a 60 percent faster recovery rate than those who did not.

In the book “Why Good Things Happen to Good People,” authors Dr. Stephen Post, a bioethics professor at Case Western Reserve University, and journalist Jill Niemark site studies that show helping others can:
• Improve physical and mental health in late adulthood when done in high school;
• Lengthen the lives of charitable seniors; and
• Reduce depression and suicide risk in adolescents.

Fort Collins resident Maureen Boyt can’t identify any specific health benefits she and her family have gained from their lifestyle of helping others. But she knows if they didn’t, they may not have such positive attitudes, gratitude and happiness that come only by reaching out to someone in need.

“To me it’s something spiritual and emotional,” Boyt says. “How can you not feel better by giving back?”

Boyt, owner of Renaissance Executive Forums, has facilitated the United Way board retreat at no charge for the last two years; served on the organization’s board since July; and provided her services to nonprofit organizations at reduced rates.

Outside of business, the mother of two elementary-aged children is a volunteer in classrooms and at school events, and Boyt finds time to participate in occasional one-day charitable activities. The family is also active in Little People of America, a nonprofit organization providing support and information for dwarfs and their families, and in their homeowners association.

“As a family, every night at dinner we ask the question, ‘who did you help today?’” Boyt says. “We’re really grateful for everything we have … We really want that to be something important to our kids. When you’re given the opportunity to have a wonderful life, you have to give back.”

And doing so draws the Boyts closer to each other and the community, she says.

“It serves as a compass for the family,” Boyt says. “It strengthens our family and it connects you to something larger than yourself … It feels like you’re part of something important, a part of something unique, a part of something special.

“It gives you a purpose outside your own aches and pains and whines.”

Those are benefits licensed clinical social worker and mental health therapist Sharon Clemens can attest to on a personal and professional level: she spends nearly 50 percent of her part-time practice providing therapy at a reduced rate to those without insurance.

“It certainly gets people’s attention off their own struggles or issues,” Clemens says of assisting others. “It gives us a different perspective on ourselves and our own issues by seeing others, what they’re going through.”

And of her own charitable efforts: “When people are at a point where they want to work on an issue, strides can be made. It’s just very satisfying.”

Gordan Thibedeau, president and chief executive officer for the local United Way, says when people see whom they’re helping and the impact they’re having, they stop judging and start empathizing. That attitude, in turn, begins to permeate the community.

“We become more accepting, we become more charitable,” he says. “I think it makes for a healthier, better community for everybody.”

For some, the road to personal and community health begins during the holidays, but for many people of faith giving has a spiritual dimension that knows no season.

“True giving is not just an occasional act as much as it is a way of life,” says Tim Runtsch, senior pastor of Redeemer Lutheran Church in Fort Collins. “It is absolutely true that I see on a day-to-day basis … that people who give of themselves to other activities and good causes and so forth have a healthier attitude in life and are generally more joyful.”

When people of faith are serving others, they worry less about themselves, Runtsch says. They trust God to provide their needs and know their reward is intrinsic, intangible and eternal.

“That’s what I see with people who are very giving,” he says. “They become less greedy, they become less focused on their own needs. When we give of ourselves and resources, we become less self-centered.”

For the Boyts, the holidays always include a number of charitable activities.

“I try everyday to come from a place of gratitude,” Boyt says. “I’ve worked very hard for success, but I know I’ve been dealt right from the start a very good hand of cards. A lot of people have obstacles I could never dream of. To give back … is an obligation as well as a gift.

“The more we give, the more we receive,” she explains. “It’s not the reason we give, but you can’t help others and it not have a positive impact. I might have a bad day, but it seems pretty trivial when I know my kids have food to eat, a good education, a vehicle that runs.”

Thibedeau says studies also show those who volunteer are more stable, productive and happier in the workplace.

“I choose to believe that people who volunteer reap those benefits, and employers who encourage volunteering reap those benefits,” he says. “It’s a sense of satisfaction that you really have done something that’s important. I think when we feel that way, we just feel better.