Charitable Involvement During the Holidays

Contributor: Leigh Bell, BA, writer for Eating Disorder Hope

Eating disorders appears as an illness of the body, physically wrecking someone. And yes, the illness does have serious health effects, eating disorders are rooted in the mind where obsessions sabotage our peace.

The broken-record thinking can seem a cerebral prison, but escape may be putting focus on other people.

Helping others through charitable work can break up eating-disordered thoughts and support recovery. This is especially true during the holidays when stress escalates but so do opportunities for charity work.

It’s easy to feel overwhelmed in the festive season. The parties, the people, the presents – and all of it celebrated around food. Lots of food.

Give of Yourself

Giving your time and/or money to people who are hungry, homeless, hurting, or lonely puts into perspective our own holiday headaches.

And if you give for altruistic reasons, you just might live longer. One study found volunteers live longer than non-volunteers if they volunteer for selfless reasons. Volunteers who did so for self-oriented reasons have the same mortality rate as people who don’t volunteer.

“The study,” researchers wrote, “adds to the existing literature on the powerful effects of social interactions on health” [1].

We’ve long known doing good does our minds good, but charitable work does our bodies good too. Volunteering for the right reasons increases our life expectancy and decreases hypertension, when we do it for at least 200 hours per year, or about 24 8-hour work days in 12 months [2].

This amount of volunteer work was also associated with greater increases in psychological well-being, which can help sustain recovery from an eating disorder.

Live Longer

Another study on the power of volunteerism found those who do volunteer have decreased mortality rates, even when controlling for socioeconomic, status, education, marital status, age, gender, and ethnicity.

Some people in eating disorder recovery volunteered, through a nonprofit organization called MentorCONNECT, to mentor others who have eating disorders but want to recover.

A study of the mentor program showed mentees improved in 7 of 12 measurements of mental health, including better relationships; improved future outlook; and psychological, emotional, and physical well-being, than those without a mentor.

But, even the mentors reported improved recovery skills and other benefits from the mentoring relationship.

Holidays are an ideal time to begin volunteer work because many organizations focus on communities in need. And it’s a win-win: You brighten someone’s life while improving your own, including recovery maintenance.

• Sponsor a Needy Family – Various organizations offer opportunities to sponsor a family through providing them food (family-to-family.org) or Christmas gifts for their children through the Salvation Army’s Angel Tree program. You can find your local branch.
• Help the Homeless – Homeless people can feel isolated and alone all year, but especially during the holidays when families gather at home. The National Coalition for the Homeless provides many ways volunteers can help the homelessness by serving food at shelters, building homes, or offering job training.
• Deliver a Meal – You can give someone company and a heartwarming meal when you sign up to deliver meals through Meals on Wheels‘ food-delivery program.
• Volunteer for Veterans – You can give back to the men and women who served our country in one of the military branches by volunteering with the Department of Veteran Affairs or signing up to the Adopt-A-Soldier program
• Help a Child – Many children don’t get Christmas presents, but not if Toys for Tots has anything to do with it. They have huge toy collections in cities nationwide. Find out more.

Your contribution doesn’t have to be directed through an organization. You can make the effort all on your own.

• Call the local hospital and see if you can make hats for the preemie babies in neonatal intensive care.
• Clean out your closets and the kids’ toys and donate.
• Call a nearby nursing home and ask what you can do. Can you make gift bags or cards? Can you just visit?
• Can you make or buy toys for animals in the local shelter?

Community Discussion – Share your thoughts here!

What has been your experience with giving back and volunteering during the holidays? How has this impacted your recovery?

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References:

[1]: Konrath, S., Fuhrel-Forbis, A., Lou, A., & Brown, S. (2012) Motives for volunteering are associated with mortality risk in older adults. Health Psychology, 31(1), 87-96.
[2]: Sneed, R, S, & Cohen, S. (2013). A prospective study of volunteerism and hypertension risk in older adults. Psychology and Aging, 28(2), 578-586.
[3]: Brown, W.M., Consedine, N.S., and Magai, C. (2005) “Altruism relates to health in an ethnically diverse sample of older adults.” Journals of Gerontology, Series B: Psychological, Sciences and Social Sciences, 60B(3), 143-52.
[4]: Perez, M., Kroon Van Diest, A., & Cutts, S. (2014). Preliminary examination of a mentor-based program for eating disorders. Journal of Eating Disorders, 2(24).
[5]: Bina, E. (2012, November 17). Holiday Volunteering, Charity Ideas That Make An Impact. Retrieved October 19, 2015.

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About the Author: Leigh Bell holds a Bachelor of Arts in English with minors in Creative Writing and French from Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles. She is a published author, journalist with 15 years of experience, and a recipient of the Rosalynn Carter Fellowship for Mental Health Journalism. Leigh is recovered from a near-fatal, decade-long battle with anorexia and the mother of three young, rambunctious children.

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The opinions and views of our guest contributors are shared to provide a broad perspective of eating disorders. These are not necessarily the views of Eating Disorder Hope, but an effort to offer discussion of various issues by different concerned individuals.

We at Eating Disorder Hope understand that eating disorders result from a combination of environmental and genetic factors. If you or a loved one are suffering from an eating disorder, please know that there is hope for you, and seek immediate professional help.

Last Updated & Reviewed By: Jacquelyn Ekern, MS, LPC on November 7, 2015
Published on EatingDisorderHope.com