Benefits of being supportive

Being supportive is so important for our development as individuals that the United Nations has established the International Human Solidarity Day to highlight the importance of helping others in different areas of life.

Through solidarity we can know the needs of others and help them to cover them as much as possible. In this way, being supportive improves our health and makes us feel much better about ourselves and the people around us.

What are the health benefits of being supportive?

• It improves self-esteem and helps build a positive self-image.
• Increases longevity: People who participate in volunteer activities live longer and are happier, since they can better control their emotions and some disease risk factors, such as stress.
• Controls blood pressure: According to a study, people who volunteered at least 200 hours a year had up to a 40% lower risk of hypertension.
• Reduces anxiety and depression by focusing on others and not on one's own concerns. In addition, acts of generosity increase the production of dopamine and serotonin, hormones that reduces depressive and anxiety.
• It helps control stress, since it increases the levels of oxytocin, a hormone that is produced when we feel satisfaction and that limits the effect of cortisol, known as the stress hormone.
• Improves social skills and empathy: Helping others helps to make lasting friendships based on our values.

There are many ways to be supportive and the good news is that you don't need to belong to a specific association or organization to be so. You can put your solidarity into practice every day through small gestures: leave your seat on the bus to a person who needs it, help a sick person, donate clothes and toys, chat with someone who feels lonely, comfort someone who has had a bad day...

So, if it's so easy, why is it sometimes difficult for us to show solidarity? According to experts, modern society pushes us towards the comfort of individualism and sometimes we forget about collective needs. We tend to interact in small and closed groups according to our social class, ideology, religion, opinions and even hobbies, and everything that separates us from the group makes us feel out of our comfort zone.

Here are some ideas to be supportive:

• Help people who are lonely. When we get old, our family and social circle shrinks. Spend your time with people who are alone and plan fun activities, like playing cards or visiting a museum with them.
• Support non-governmental organizations that raise funds for solidarity projects, such as collecting food or clothing for people who are in an emergency. 
• Organize solidarity activities at work. In addition to helping people who need it, you will strengthen the relationship with your co-workers.
• Involve your family and friends in volunteering activities, like going to the cinema with children from families at risk of social exclusion or hosting these children during vacation periods.