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Researchers have pinpointed a phenomenon they call the “helper’s high,” which is a bit like a “runner’s high” except it doesn’t require excruciating suffering to attain.

Allan Luks, the former executive director of the Institute for the Advancement of Health, wrote a book with Peggy Payne called “The Healing Power of Doing Good.” They interviewed thousands of volunteers who reported feeling this “helper’s high,” described as “a feeling of warmth, increased energy, and a sense of calm after doing something kind for someone else.”

Kindness is often seen as an act of pure, selfless altruism, but really it is a reflexive good that benefits the caregiver as much as the care-getter. That’s why the Dalai Lama said, “If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion.” Kindness is not simply a religious obligation or a virtue that must be worked toward. Even the golden rule — “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you” — implies that kindness is a two-way street between self and others. It is an act that psychologically and physically helps the giver as much as the recipient.  

That’s not dogma. It’s biology.

Performing kind acts for others releases chemicals such as dopamine, serotonin, and oxytocin. Dopamine rewards the body with feelings of pleasure, serotonin increases satisfaction and well-being, and oxytocin even reduces inflammation. This doesn’t mean holding the door for people is some Holy Grail of health and happiness — Indiana Jones could have saved himself a lot of trouble if that was the case — but the benefits of kindness are real.

The biological effect extends to fiscal kindness. Giving on a budget can cause headaches, but studies show that generosity reduces literal heartaches. According to Harvard Health, a study assigned older adults suffering from high blood pressure either to spend their money on themselves or others. The two-year study demonstrated that spending more money on others correlated with lower blood pressure. Another study compressed the timetable to six weeks and a $120 budget, yet the results were the same — the more that people spent on others, the more their heart health benefited. A bevy of research shows that spending money on others is linked to greater happiness.

Kindness is like investing in the stock market. It may cost something up front, like time or energy, but it will pay dividends over time — at least, this stock market always will. The “ripple effect” of kindness is a common phrase, but in practice it is remarkable. In 2018, the University of California, Riverside, asked employees of a company to perform small acts of kindness toward their co-workers, such as making coffee or writing thank-you notes, over a four-week span. Employees who benefited from the gestures were 278% more likely to do kind acts for others than employees who never received special kindness. Each act of kindness spread to an average of three other people.

Human beings are lakes. A healthy lake needs an outflow of water as much as it needs an inflow, and likewise people need to give as much as they need to receive. I’ve found this to be true in my own experience. The most consistent way to escape a mental funk, I’ve discovered, is not to indulge myself with something fun, but instead to give someone a compliment or a gift. I’ve had bad days this semester, but self-affirmation never lifted my mood as much as telling one of my friends that he’s an amazing singer, or another that she’s clearly a caring person.

In a world hypersensitive about mental health, the phrase “Be kind to yourself” has become a cultural truism. Biology shows this maxim cannot be divorced from the charge to be kind to others. Some readers might shy away from being kind for apparently selfish reasons, since virtues should be pursued for their own sake, but that misses the point. As a Christian, I believe the biological benefits of showing kindness testify to the intricate design of a creator who wove love of self to love of others so tightly that humans cannot be fulfilled until they “love thy neighbor as thyself.” Kindness is a fruit of the spirit, and like a fruit, it grows when its seeds are scattered. Even for non-Christians, it’s axiomatic that ripples can’t spread across the water if a stone isn’t cast.

Say something nice to your coworker or your classmate. If nothing else, you’ll live longer.

Brennan Berryhill is a junior studying English.