Whenever we think of acts of kindness, we generally assume they make the lives of others easier or better in some way. Complimenting someone’s clothes or helping an elderly neighbor with some housework can be a welcome improvement to their day. Far less often do we wonder: how does this affect you – the one that is extending kindness?

The Study

That is why an amazing recent study set out to explore the effects of kindness on our mental health. For the study, people that experienced medium levels of depression or anxiety were monitored and randomly assigned to one of three groups over the course of 5 weeks:

• One group was asked to perform 3 random acts of kindness on 2 days of the week, 
• The second group was asked to plan a social activity on 2 days of the week,
• The last group was asked to maintain a ‘thoughts diary’ for 2 days of the week to identify and challenge distressing thoughts (a proven and weathered cognitive behavioral therapy technique)

Before the experiment, during every week, and 5 weeks after the experiment, participants filled out a range of questionnaires about how they were feeling.

The Results

Afterwards, all 3 groups reported being less depressed and anxious, had lower negative feelings, and felt more satisfied with life. But surprisingly, the group that performed acts of kindness reported greater reductions in both anxiety and depression, as well as higher life satisfaction. And, while the kindness-group and the social activities-group both boosted people’s perception of social support, the increase was the biggest from acts of kindness, with benefits lasting up to 5 weeks.

The Advice

Studies like this show that kindness really is a win-win activity, something that provides brands with an opportunity to do real good if they could find a creative way to stimulate random acts of kindness. And personally, it also offers some inspiring