It's a nice thought, but the mental health angle seems pretty thin on the ground here. The article eschews any actual mention of illness, clinical psychology, o

It's a nice thought, but the mental health angle seems pretty thin on the ground here. The article eschews any actual mention of illness, clinical psychology, or psychiatry, and the volunteering-specific evidence it cites is preliminary at best. One interesting thing is the mention/citation that helping other people being built into a job doesn't seem to have similar benefits. Another study found a similar difference for the psychological benefits of physical activity [1]. I imagine there's a significant cultural bias in the Protestant(ish) Anglosphere against "leisure is good for you", though. [1] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21037212 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21037212