Depression and altruism

When I was a Chinese Medicine student, the first real patient I worked with wanted help with depression.

At the time, we worked in pairs - two students (along with an experienced supervisor) per patient. My partner was a Tibetan Buddhist monk, named Yishan, who was studying to bring acupuncture and Chinese Medicine therapies back to his monastery.

While I was busy trying to remember which acupuncture locations treat depression, Yishan took a different approach. He invited this patient to volunteer with him at a charity he served at a couple nights a week.

"Generosity makes people happier,” he told me.

It turns out, there's science behind this idea.

Today, a room at our clinic is named after Yishan, to remind us about generosity and to think outside the box about medicine.