Volunteering Produces Health Benefits: New Report Shows Helping Others Improves Your Wellbeing and Longevity

Compassionate Neurobiology and Health

10.1093/oxfordhb/9780190464684.013.13 ◽

2017 ◽

Author(s):

Stephanie L. Brown ◽

R. Michael Brown

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Animal Model ◽

Physical Health ◽

Medical Research ◽

Behavioral Intervention ◽

Parental Behavior ◽

Health Benefits ◽

Stress Buffering ◽

Helping Others ◽

The Brain

This chapter explores the empirical roots of compassion science and the schools of thought that gave rise to the idea that compassion may be good for health. We review the evidence that suggests that those who help others are healthier and live longer than those who do not help others, and we highlight stress-buffering and compassionate motivation as mechanisms for this effect. We describe emerging models that connect compassion to physical health using neurobiology, and we review Numan’s (2006) animal model of parental behavior as the basis for predictions about specific areas of the brain, neuropeptides, and hormones that are hypothesized to interact to produce health benefits associated with helping others. We conclude with a discussion of the implications of compassionate neurobiology for medical research, mental health, and behavioral intervention.

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Five Decades: From Challenge to Acclaim

Canadian Journal of Dietetic Practice and Research ◽

10.3148/cjdpr-2016-015 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 77 (3) ◽

pp. 154-158 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Vesanto Melina

Keyword(s):

Life Cycle ◽

Significant Role ◽

Health Professionals ◽

Health Benefits ◽

Lifestyle Choices ◽

Helping Others

What can make your work as a dietitian so meaningful that you begin each day with enthusiasm, and if you so choose, retain that joy in your work for 5 decades or more? Three themes are: (i) doing work that profoundly makes sense to you, (ii) inspiring others (and yourself) to make healthful choices, and (iii) moving through challenges to success. Initially it can be challenging to make a living through work that is most deeply meaningful or closest to your heart. Yet it is well worth finding the balance between practicality and movement in the desired direction. Other challenges faced by dietitians involve helping others to adopt new, more healthful lifestyle choices. As health professionals, our attitudes towards plant-based diets have changed dramatically during these past decades. This article examines our evolving perspectives of plant-based diets, and uses this as an example of movement through challenges to success and acclaim. Vegetarian and vegan diets that were considered entirely inappropriate for many stages of the life cycle in the 1970s are now seen to confer health benefits. This applies to well-designed plant-based diets, thus offering a significant role for dietitians as creative leaders in this field.

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