@P12
I agree with your point about volunteers being productive. Volunteers can also be "invisible" when dealing with typical economy metrics.
I am a bit "over" this concept of helping the poor old suffering economy though.
Regarding Occupational Therapists. Recently I had an experience with them and found them moderately helpful, in that they advocated for a physical disability, which had been previously been dismissed. That intervention meant I had 1 or 2 physiotherapy appointment, with someone which made the difference between me getting through Covid.
I get the thrust of their Occupation is not greatly adapted to psychiatric issues yet, but I am hoping that change. The reality for me was that she put in another 3 small interventions which were helpful and out of the box for me. Whereas the psychiatrists and psychologists I had seen had not actually offered much. It was more about me filling up their booking schedules.
Currently I am not seeing OT very often, but found them very professional, if expensive.
Back to volunteering ... I have often volunteered in my main fields of my interest and learned new things about the world each time. Eg I was hungry for intelligent company and volunteered at the zoo ... and so spent lots of time with the animals ... ha ha ... joke ... I found being back among those with scientific training really good, enjoyed their knowledge and respect for the limits of their knowledge and do not regret offering my time for free. Think about going with some of the advertised available volunteer positions ... they may not fit exactly with your expertise, but still could be valuable with a range of intangibles ... that is if you have time.
Getting an exact fit with your very particular interests may be very competitive and the old insurance bogeyman may rear its ugle head.
