Stephen Post - The Power of Giving, Compassion and Hope

On Friday evening, Dr. Stephen Post joined the Dalai Lama Center for an intimate discussion on the power of giving. Dr. Post, who is the director of the Center for Medical Humanities, Compassionate Care, and Bioethics at Stony Brook University, brought evidence to suggest that helping others is one of the most effective ways to improve our own well-being.

He shared the story of Brook Ellison who became a quadriplegic at the age of 11. She would go on to become the first quadriplegic to ever graduate from Harvard, she was on the front page of the New York Times, was the subject of a film and is, as Dr. Post put it, "just a world class gal".

She gets through her tough times, says Dr. Post, by spending much of her life helping others, by going to schools where wheelchair-bound children have their own problems and showing them that things will get better. 

Dr. Stephen Post at "The Power of Giving, Compassion and Hope".

Dr. Post shared many other examples of how we can help ourselves by helping others, and he also broke it down in terms of how exactly this happens.

In 2009, 41 per cent of Americans volunteered in some manner. A number of volunteers were surveyed and the results that Dr. Post shared are quite telling. 89 per cent of volunteers reported that volunteering had improved their well-being.  73 per cent said it had lowered their stress levels, while 92 per cent said it had enriched their purpose in life. But perhaps most importantly, 62 per cent reported that volunteering made them feel physically healthier.

While these were all self-reports, Dr. Post suggest that results are of self-reporting are often quite accurate.

DLC President and CEO Lynn Green with Dr. Stephen Post

Stay tuned for more from this event and the complete audio and video podcasts.

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