It's a tricky one......

On one hand, if you are not in good order yourself, you often might not care for other people, or are too wound up to listen to anyone's problems.

But on the whole, if you are kind to someone, they'll be kind back and help you with your problems, and if you do something good, you tend to feel good about yourself.

^^ I agree. It can go both ways.

But, for the most part, I think helping others can sometimes be a mechanism for avoiding your own issues (at least that is what I tend to do).

Yourself first.
You think people will even care to accept your help if your life is a living mess? And why care to fix the problems of others before your own?

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Wow, most people think otherwise in my country... That's why we're giving away a lot of our money so we can 'help' corrupted countries, while our schools and hospitals are awful and old. Oh, well... As long as we help those who need it, right?

I agree with Angria. Helping others first can be true in some cases, but in more serious ones it is not.

Wow, I'm torn on this. I think it really depends on the person and situation. In some cases, I can't help someone until I've figured out my own similar problems (like helping someone with a complicated Math problem). But in others, I can't fix my problem until I sit back and objectively help someone else with their similar problems (like dealing with relationship or friendship problems).

I think they go hand in hand and it depends on the situation. Everyone needs to do both

They do say on airplanes put your mask on first before helping any one else with theirs... I think if you are a wreck you won't be much help to anyone else..

I personally say that both are plausible, and go hand in hand with one another :)