Altruistic People Are Physically Healthier, Study Reveals: How Helping Others Can Benefit You, Too

Study after study shows that social support plays an absolutely central role in human wellbeing — and that holds true for mental as well as physical health. It makes sense, really, when you think about it. When you know that you have people in your life who will go all-out to support you in your times of need, you feel loved and safe. You can also count on practical support, such as help with chores after you've just had a baby, or someone to pick up your prescription meds while you're recovering from an operation.

It's no surprise, then, that receiving social support improves your health-related outcomes, and can even extend your lifespan. 

What do you need to know?

What Does the New Study Teach Us About the Health Benefits of Helping Others by Giving Social Support?

"Perceived support-giving moderated the associations between IL-6 and indicators of positive social relationships, including social integration, perceived support-availability, and positive relations with others," was the main conclusion of the paper entitled Perceived social support-giving moderates the association between social relationships and interleukin-6 levels in blood.

Is that, as they say, "all Greek to you"? Here's the plain English version. 

The study, which used data from the National Survey of Midlife Development in the United States, investigated how socially-connected a group of over 1,000 US-based adults aged 34 to 84 were. The research team examined data in which the participants answered questions about their social lives. Were they married? How often did they connect with family and friends? How often were they involved in community activities?

Next, they looked at how much social support the participants said they could count on from the people in their lives, and how much they were able to give to others. 

Two years later, the participants underwent blood tests that measured, among other things, their levels of interleukin-6 — a marker that indicates chronic inflammation in the body. Chronic inflammation is one of the most critical things to look at if you want to know how physically healthy any given person is, because chronic inflammation can point to varied diseases, such as:

• Infections
• Cancer
• Cardiovascular disease
• Respiratory disease

As such, a lack of chronic inflammation is an important indicator that someone is in good physical health. 

The results? People who were able to give more social support had lower levels of IL-6 in their blood, showing that they were healthier. This remained true even after the researchers accounted for other factors, indicating that offering social support itself makes you healthier. Interestingly, the effect was shown to be stronger in women, who are often raised to care for others to a greater extent than men. 

The study further pointed out that only receiving, but not giving, support, has a negative impact on health — solidifying the old adage that give and take is important in social relationships. 

Why Might Giving Social Support Feel So Good? Why Would Helping Others Benefit Your Health?

Humans are fundamentally social animals. Offering support to others, as well as receiving support when we need it, helps us feel good for many different reasons:

• We're programmed to release "happiness hormones" like oxytocin when we bond with others — and helping people is one of the best ways to do that.
• When we help others, we feel a strong sense of community and belonging, both of which are crucial to our wellbeing. We need to know that we have a broader social purpose, after all.
• If your interventions or acts of helping are successful, and they improve people's lives, then you will get a sense of reward that is very motivating. In fact, you will help to create a positive atmosphere in your life that always shows you that you can make a difference.
• When you're ready to help others, they will in turn love and support you. 

How Can You Offer Social Support?

Each person has to find their own way to offer social support. Some are good listeners. Others are problem-solvers. Some are always ready to step in and do something practical. No matter who you are, you can find a way to help those around you more effectively, and here are some ideas:

• Reach out and ask how people are doing, especially if you have noticed that someone in your life seems to be having a hard time. 
• Ask questions, and simply be an active listener. Feeling heard can be very powerful. 
• Do chores or run errands for someone who is ill, invite someone lonely to dinner or for a walk, help with paperwork or mentoring. You don't need to be a highly empathic person who is able to listen well to offer social support! If you know how to change a tire, and someone who needs their tire changed doesn't, you can already make a difference. 

This year, why not commit to helping others whenever you feel able? Don't wait for someone to ask. See where you can help out, because asking for support can be difficult — and offering to step in to meet a need can make someone feel very loved.

We're not sure if helping others still benefits your health if you're only in it for selfish reasons, but one thing is for sure. The moment we take the time to support someone who needs our help, we become a part of the wider human family. That can only be a good thing.