Volunteering to cope with PTSD. One of the things I gravitated toward to mask/cope/distract early on in PTSD recovery, was taking on tasks and volunteer efforts. I became a Union president at age 22 to help save my fellow workers as OSHA was kicking in and spent decades volunteering as an environmental activist. I intuited that it could not hurt to do so. It was quite cathartic in many ways. Study shows volunteering improves mental health in veterans