Nearly 60 million American adults struggle with conditions that affect their brain health, most commonly depression and anxiety. Despite spending more money on treatment than ever before, outcomes are getting worse, not better.

That should tell us something important: We are missing a key piece of the puzzle.

Fortunately, one of the most powerful brain health interventions is free, available to everyone and backed by science. It is kindness.

Kindness is not just a moral virtue. It is a biological intervention that changes the way the brain functions.

When we are overly focused on ourselves – our pain, our worries, our frustrations – we activate a network in the brain called the default mode network. This network is involved in self-referential ("It’s about me") thinking, rumination and overthinking.

When it is overactive, people tend to suffer more. They replay negative experiences, worry about the future and get stuck in loops of anxiety and depression.

When we help someone else, we suffer less

Something remarkable happens when we shift our attention outward, however. When we help someone else, serve our community or show........

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