Have you ever done an act of kindness for someone that made them felt well about themselves and positive about their position in the world? This has been proven scientifically that an act of kindness always acts as a therapeutic value in the treatment of mood disorder which is popularly known as depression. A growing body of research says that any “positive activity interventions” serves as an effectual and low cost treatment for the individuals undergoing depression. This can be like helping an individual with groceries or helping an individual with some personal work.

One might say that there is no big deal in this as the depressed individual will feel well for ten minutes only. But for a depressed individual these ten minutes of positivity are worth and they try to increase such positive emotions in their life, says Sonia Lyubomirsky, Co Author and psychology professor at University of California. After a painstaking analysis of research on therapeutic benefits of optimistic emotions, Sonia and her team found that there was a widespread support for the impression that individual with depression can surely come out of his  problem if he helps himself by bringing positivity in his daily life. They can do this by being kind to others, meditating on good things in life, thinking positive and expressing gratitude.

“They seem really trivial. They seem like, what’s the big deal, you feel good for 10 minutes,” said Sonja Lyubomirsky, a psychology professor at the University of California-Riverside, who co-authored a recent paper on the topic. “But for a depressed person, they aren’t trivial at all. Depressed individuals need to increase positive emotions in their life, even a minute here and there.”

Research shows that there is a positive and good impact of such actions in the life of depressed individuals. Helping others often makes an individual stop focusing on his pain, worries and problems thereby contributing in making him feel well about himself. And the best thing is that the depressed individuals can pursue these optimistic actions by themselves. They are very simple and do not involve visiting the doctor. They have proved to be a great alternative to medication or therapy. Though it takes effort to continually remind you to perform such acts of kindness yet it will help them get over their tough times.