Why Asking and Giving is Good for Us
It might seem like it’s just another part of life that goes so easily under the radar, but asking for help actually possesses many benefits for us.
To elaborate on the earlier point of chemicals being released, helping each other is scientifically beneficial. The main chemicals released when you help someone are oxytocin, serotonin and dopamine. But what do these chemicals do? Well, oxytocin is a hormone that is heavily associated with trust, and relationships. When you help each other, this hormone is released and helps to improve your relationship and the level of trust you share through the specific activity you’ve done. Serotonin is a key hormone that helps to stabilise our mood, as well as promote feelings of well-being and happiness. Without serotonin, our mood would be constantly changing, and the amount of happiness that we feel would fluctuate. Asking people for help makes sure that this level is consistent and justified. Finally, dopamine, often called a chemical messenger, delivers messages between your nerve cells. Because of this, dopamine actually plays a large role in the way that we feel pleasure and satisfaction. When we complete something, we feel satisfied, which releases dopamine which encourages a positive feeling. All of these chemicals all help to reduce stress which is another benefit in itself.
Asking for help also develops trust between parties. Like we’ve mentioned, asking for help can be difficult for a variety of reasons, but if you trust someone enough to not only tell them, but ask them for help, then they can feel more trusting in you should they need your advice, help, time etc. With a stronger trust between people, relationships can grow and flourish which can encourage more positivity further down the line. Alongside trust, asking for help also encourages teamwork. Research has discovered that working with people with high work ethics can promote and improve other work ethics to follow suit, regardless of the effort required for the task. And with more trust in people, improved relationships, and a new found work ethic, mental health issues can be fought. Mental illnesses like depression can be difficult to overcome, however building relationships, and being productive in a way that helps you to achieve something are great ways to counter this illness, feelings of loneliness and isolation are also combated through asking for help. With these feelings being prominent, more stress and doubt can be manifested, however through teamwork, through asking for help, once again these negative feelings can be warded off.
The misconception about asking for help is not only plainly wrong, but also potentially harmful too. If you need help, don’t feel like you have to keep to yourself so you don’t bother people. If you need help, ask for it. There’s nothing wrong with it, and not only can you get what needs to be done, done, you can help them back in the future, which might help them more than you realise.