Need a mental health lift? Watch Oprah, then help others.

Mental health experts have long understood the concept of "elevation:" you watch someone else help out a person or animal in need, and you feel good. That's why inspirational television shows that help people or feature altruistic characters have been popular for decades. Yet a group of mental health researchers wanted to know if the elevation felt after witnessing a good deed could actually motivate people to act positively in turn. The answer, they found, is yes.

Researchers showed study volunteers either a neutral TV clip (scenes from a nature documentary) or an uplifting TV clip (a segment from "The Oprah Winfrey Show" showing musicians thanking their mentors). Study participants then wrote an essay describing what they watched. As they received their payment for the study, participants were asked if they would be willing to participate in a future study. Participants who watched the uplifting Oprah segment were more likely to volunteer for the additional study than the people who were shown the neutral nature clip, suggesting that the mental health lift elevation provides may make people more willing to help others.

Yet it's one thing to say you will do something and another to actually do it, so researchers added one more element to their study. They showed one of three possible videos to a different set of study participants: an uplifting video, a boring video and a funny video. Participants who watched the uplifting video spent twice as long helping a research assistant (pretending to be a receptionist) with an unrelated questionnaire than those who watched the funny or the boring videos. The study was published this month in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science.

This is good news. With February gray still weighing down tree branches, and public response polls showing people losing faith and favor with such important issues like American health reform, it can be hard to feel inspired. And few among us couldn't use the mental health boost that inspiration provides. Now, thanks to these researchers, we know awakening is just an episode of Oprah away (or "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition," one of my favorites). So gather up those you love, watch an episode of good programming, and then get off the couch and act. Other studies have shown that volunteering can also be good for your physical health: some researchers say it can lower stress and boost immunity. Here's the added bonus: anyone who sees you perform your good deed may, in turn, be motivated to act, too.

Need ideas? Read below:

Food pantries and kitchens often see an increase in their guests toward the end of the month, when money gets tight for many people and families. Get your hands on the documentary "Silent Killer: The Unfinished Campaign Against Hunger," then clean out your pantry and donate non-perishable items. Offer to help cook and serve a meal.

Animal shelters, especially those in urban areas, often need people to walk the dogs in their care. Watch an episode of "DogTown," then volunteer to help these abandoned animals get exercise.

Is it still snowy and icy in your neighborhood? Not everyone can get out there with a shovel. Watch any show on Discovery or National Geographic that features people defying danger to get needed supplies to isolated villages. Then shoulder your shovel and clear the walks of your neighbors who can't do it for themselves.

Photo Credit: Ed Yourdon