Random Acts Of Kindness Can Improve Your Mental Health & Reduce Depression, Especially If You Are A Difficult Person

Showing compassion to others can help reduce depression and increase life satisfaction, say scientists who found that the most disagreeable or difficult individuals benefit the greatest from doing so.

Such people, who are also the least likely to be kind, can benefit most from behaving more compassionately, a recent study has found.

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The research from York University in Canada revealed that disagreeable or difficult people who performed acts of kindness in close relationships showed the greatest reductions in depression and greatest increases in life satisfaction.

"As a result of their hostility and lack of cooperation, disagreeable types risk getting rejected or ostracised. There is a lot of conflict in their relationships, and they suffer the consequences,¡± said lead author, Myriam Mongrain, a professor at York.

¡°We found that providing concrete suggestions to those individuals, giving them ways in which they could express empathic concern in their close relationships was tremendously helpful," said Mongrain.

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Remember that Odisha man who walked 12 km carrying his wife¡¯s dead body on his shoulder? Well, his Royal Highness Prime Minister Prince Khalifa Salman Al Khalifa donated a sum of money to help that man and his family after the hospital she was admitted in failed to provide an ambulance to send her back to her village.

That incident was not only for India to take notice of the lack of empathy and concern for its own people but also for the world to notice such an act of random kindness.

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Highly disagreeable people often lack empathy, even in their close relationships, said Mongrain.

"Implementing these new behaviours might have left them feeling affirmed and liked in their close social circle. This might have been the anti-depressant ingredient in this group," she said.

"Everybody needs people, as a result of their hostility and lack of cooperation, disagreeable types risk getting rejected or ostracised. There is a lot of conflict in their relationships, and they suffer the consequences. We found that providing concrete suggestions to those individuals, giving them ways in which they could express empathic concern in their close relationships was tremendously helpful," said Mongrain.

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Dar Yasin, a photographer who works for the Associated Press, made headlines after he dropped his camera while on duty to save an 18-year-old girl who was critically injured after an incessant stone pelting episode in Kasmir.

¡°I told the girl¡¯s friends that I have two daughters and this girl is just like one of them. If you are the father of two girls or if you are a father of any child, you cannot just see anyone¡¯s child helplessly suffering like that,¡± the HT quoted Yasin as saying.

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Researchers say the results could have immediate practical applications for social scientists, policymakers, psychology researchers, and health practitioners.

The widespread application of compassion interventions could contribute to a more humane and kinder society, particularly when targeted at those prone to hostility.

Dr Uday Modi, an alternative medicine practitioner, for instance, is an angel in disguise for hundreds of older people who¡¯ve been abandoned by their own children. He¡¯s dedicated part of his life to run a free tiffin service in Bhayandar, Mumbai, which feeds close to 500 old people on a daily basis.

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"My chest swells with pride when my kids come back and give me tiny bits of their savings to be put in for the seva. Lots of people come forward and support, I am sure it will go on, and with the grace of god, we will be able to reach out to more and more helpless elderly," he told NDTV.

"You can't be an island unto yourself. Sometimes those who are hostile say they don't need people, but at the end of the day, it does affect mood. People get very drained from disagreements with their spouse for example, so the toll that it takes is not to be minimised. This kind of intervention could be an antidote for those who are lacking in compassion," said Mongrain.

Sometimes those who are hostile say they don't need people, but at the end of the day, it does affect mood. This kind of intervention could be an antidote for those who are lacking in compassion.