Volunteer work is a humanitarian practice that societies have known since ancient times because it stems from the humanity of the human being, regardless of his position, professional degree or financial condition. materiality.
And the teachings of Islam encourage doing voluntary and charitable works, God Almighty says: {So whoever volunteers good, it is good for him, and that you fast is better for you, if you know}. The world obtains a moral return, as volunteer work is an important means of obtaining happiness and psychological comfort.
Effects of volunteering on mental health
1- Satisfaction of some psychological needs
- Satisfaction of the religious and spiritual side: Voluntary work in Islam has the characteristic that it falls under the aspect of afterlife happiness and gaining the pleasure of God Almighty, and in it opens a door to getting used to calculating the reward from God Almighty.
- Satisfying the need for success, achievement and achieving goals: The individual feels a psychological impulse urging him to volunteer to do a job that achieves for himself a deep sense of achievement and achievement of goals, through the services he performs for those who need such a service.
Only those who have tried and practiced volunteer work feel achievement and success, and despite the troubles the volunteer faces and the efforts he makes, the feeling of reducing the burdens on the shoulders of others and meeting what they need and watching them in their best sense of success is not matched by another feeling.
The matter is not limited to the youth category only, but it increases in need as a person advances in his age, especially at the stage of retirement, here volunteering gives them an important value and restores balance to their lives.
- Satisfying the need for love, respect and self-confidence: People’s respect and appreciation for him, and for what he does, makes him more proud of himself and his abilities, and thus the person knows his abilities and capabilities well and works to practice them, and through it others learn about his abilities and capabilities and increase their adherence to him, love and respect for him.
Only those who have tried and practiced volunteer work feel achievement and success, despite the difficulties and efforts the volunteer faces.
2- Unloading energy and occupying leisure time
Emptiness is considered the killer of creativity and work among young people, and it is the killer of any ambition, and how can this not be possible when we see some of our young people scattered on the streets, and on social networks, they take advantage of their time in a way that does not benefit them and their society.
One of the solutions to killing boredom and emptiness is for young people to engage in voluntary work, so that they can fill the void that many of them suffer from, to participate in this voluntary work according to their specialization and inclinations.
3- Exchanging experiences and acquiring life skills and abilities
The volunteer gains a great deal of experience from other volunteers, as everyone exchanges their experiences in life through friction between each other, and it builds his personality.
It also acquires some skills such as: self-confidence and responsibility, the ability to face sudden problems, organization skills, dialogue, and negotiation.
4- Treatment of some acute mental illnesses
This is proven by the study conducted by Colette Vikan and Sarah Cook, as they explained how some people with severe mental illnesses benefited from the experience of volunteering and serving others in the same health centers where they are treated, and it generated a positive sense of self-esteem, and contributed to their speedy recovery, as well as gained them insight positive for themselves.
5- Feeling satisfied and calm
This was demonstrated by a survey of 1,000 volunteers in a voluntary organization in Malaysia conducted by Catherine Virasami Murali and Samba Sivan. They showed that life satisfaction is affected by the time period of volunteering and the nature of contact with the beneficiaries, as well as the feeling of peace and tranquility by repeating the times of volunteering.
And last but not least, I hope that we will start launching a campaign with the hashtag “#EnrichVolunteering”, in which everyone from all over the world participates, telling us about the impact of volunteering in his life.
Finally, let us participate in charitable and voluntary works as much as we can, in any possible form and in any form of participation.