The Health Benefits of Humor and Laughter
Humor is
infectious. The sound of roaring laughter is far more contagious than any
cough, sniffle, or sneeze. When laughter is shared, it binds people together
and increases happiness and intimacy. Laughter also triggers healthy physical
changes in the body. Humor and laughter strengthen your immune system, boost
your energy, diminish pain, and protect you from the damaging effects of
stress. Best of all, this priceless medicine is fun, free, and easy to use
Laughter is strong medicine for mind and body
“Your sense of humor is one of the most powerful tools you have to make
certain that your daily mood and emotional state support good health.”
~ Paul E. McGhee, Ph.D.
Laughter is a powerful antidote to stress, pain, and conflict. Nothing works
faster or more dependably to bring your mind and body back into balance than a
good laugh. Humor lightens your burdens, inspires hopes, connects you to
others, and keeps you grounded, focused, and alert.
With so much power to heal and renew, the ability to laugh easily and
frequently is a tremendous resource for surmounting problems, enhancing your
relationships, and supporting both physical and emotional health.
Laughter is good for your health
- Laughter relaxes the whole body. A good, hearty laugh relieves physical tension and stress, leaving your muscles relaxed for up to 45 minutes after.
- Laughter boosts the immune system. Laughter decreases stress hormones and increases immune cells and infection-fighting antibodies, thus improving your resistance to disease.
- Laughter triggers the release of endorphins, the body’s natural feel-good chemicals. Endorphins promote an overall sense of well-being and can even temporarily relieve pain.
- Laughter protects the heart. Laughter improves the function of blood vessels and increases blood flow, which can help protect you against a heart attack and other cardiovascular problems.
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Laughter and humor help you stay emotionally healthy
Laughter makes you feel good. And the good feeling that you get when you
laugh remains with you even after the laughter subsides. Humor helps you keep a
positive, optimistic outlook through difficult situations, disappointments, and
loss.
More than just a respite from sadness and pain, laughter gives you the
courage and strength to find new sources of meaning and hope. Even in the most
difficult of times, a laugh–or even simply a smile–can go a long way toward
making you feel better. And laughter really is contagious—just hearing laughter
primes your brain and readies you to smile and join in the fun.
The link between laughter and mental health
- Laughter dissolves distressing emotions. You can’t feel anxious, angry, or sad when you’re laughing.
- Laughter helps you relax and recharge. It reduces stress and increases energy, enabling you to stay focused and accomplish more.
- Humor shifts perspective, allowing you to see situations in a more realistic, less threatening light. A humorous perspective creates psychological distance, which can help you avoid feeling overwhelmed.
The social benefits of humor and laughter
Humor and playful communication strengthen our relationships by triggering
positive feelings and fostering emotional connection. When we laugh with one
another, a positive bond is created. This bond acts as a strong buffer against
stress, disagreements, and disappointment.
Laughing with others is more powerful than laughing alone
Creating opportunities to laugh
- Watch a funny movie or TV show.
- Go to a comedy club.
- Read the funny pages.
- Seek out funny people.
- Share a good joke or a funny story.
- Check out your bookstore’s humor section.
- Host game night with friends.
- Play with a pet.
- Go to a “laughter yoga” class.
- Goof around with children.
- Do something silly.
- Make time for fun activities (e.g. bowling, miniature golfing, karaoke).
Shared laughter is one of the most effective tools for keeping relationships
fresh and exciting. All emotional sharing builds strong and lasting relationship
bonds, but sharing laughter and play also adds joy, vitality, and resilience.
And humor is a powerful and effective way to heal resentments, disagreements,
and hurts. Laughter unites people during difficult times.
Incorporating more humor and play into your daily interactions can improve
the quality of your love relationships— as well as your connections with
co-workers, family members, and friends. Using humor and laughter in
relationships allows you to:
- Be more spontaneous. Humor gets you out of your head and away from your troubles.
- Let go of defensiveness. Laughter helps you forget judgments, criticisms, and doubts.
- Release inhibitions. Your fear of holding back and holding on are set aside.
- Express your true feelings. Deeply felt emotions are allowed to rise to the surface.
Bringing more humor and laughter into your life
Want more laughter in your life? Get a pet…
Most of us have experienced the joy of playing with a furry friend, and pets
are a rewarding way to bring more laughter and joy into your life. But did you
know that having
a pet is good for your mental and physical health? Studies show that pets
can protect you depression, stress, and even heart disease.
Laughter is your birthright, a natural part of life that is innate and
inborn. Infants begin smiling during the first weeks of life and laugh out loud
within months of being born. Even if you did not grow up in a household where
laughter was a common sound, you can learn to laugh at any stage of life.
Begin by setting aside special times to seek out humor and laughter, as you
might with working out, and build from there. Eventually, you’ll want to
incorporate humor and laughter into the fabric of your life, finding it
naturally in everything you do.
Here are some ways to start:
- Smile. Smiling is the beginning of laughter. Like laughter, it’s contagious. Pioneers in “laugh therapy,” find it’s possible to laugh without even experiencing a funny event. The same holds for smiling. When you look at someone or see something even mildly pleasing, practice smiling.
- Count your blessings. Literally make a list. The simple act of considering the good things in your life will distance you from negative thoughts that are a barrier to humor and laughter. When you’re in a state of sadness, you have further to travel to get to humor and laughter.
- When you hear laughter, move toward it. Sometimes humor and laughter are private, a shared joke among a small group, but usually not. More often, people are very happy to share something funny because it gives them an opportunity to laugh again and feed off the humor you find in it. When you hear laughter, seek it out and ask, “What’s funny?”
- Spend time with fun, playful people. These are people who laugh easily–both at themselves and at life’s absurdities–and who routinely find the humor in everyday events. Their playful point of view and laughter are contagious.
- Bring humor into conversations. Ask people, “What’s the funniest thing that happened to you today? This week? In your life?”
Developing your sense of humor: Take yourself less seriously
One essential characteristic that helps us laugh is not taking ourselves too
seriously. We’ve all known the classic tight-jawed sourpuss who takes
everything with deathly seriousness and never laughs at anything. No fun there!
Some events are clearly sad and not occasions for laughter. But most events
in life don’t carry an overwhelming sense of either sadness or
delight. They fall into the gray zone of ordinary life–giving you the choice to
laugh or not.
Ways to help yourself see the lighter side of life:
- Laugh at yourself. Share your embarrassing moments. The best way to take yourself less seriously is to talk about times when you took yourself too seriously.
- Attempt to laugh at situations rather than bemoan them. Look for the humor in a bad situation, and uncover the irony and absurdity of life. This will help improve your mood and the mood of those around you.
- Surround yourself with reminders to lighten up. Keep a toy on your desk or in your car. Put up a funny poster in your office. Choose a computer screensaver that makes you laugh. Frame photos of you and your family or friends having fun.
- Keep things in perspective. Many things in life are beyond your control—particularly the behavior of other people. While you might think taking the weight of the world on your shoulders is admirable, in the long run it’s unrealistic, unproductive, unhealthy, and even egotistical.
- Deal with your stress. Stress is a major impediment to humor and laughter.
- Pay attention to children and emulate them. They are the experts on playing, taking life lightly, and laughing.
Checklist for lightening up
When you find yourself taken over by what seems to be a horrible problem,
ask these questions:
- Is it really worth getting upset over?
- Is it worth upsetting others?
- Is it that important?
- Is it that bad?
- Is the situation irreparable?
- Is it really your problem?
Using humor and play to overcome challenges and enhance your life
The ability to laugh, play, and have fun with others not only makes life
more enjoyable but also helps you solve problems, connect with others, and be
more creative. People who incorporate humor and play into their daily lives
find that it renews them and all of their relationships.
Life brings challenges that can either get the best of you or become
playthings for your imagination. When you “become the problem” and take
yourself too seriously, it can be hard to think outside the box and find new
solutions. But when you play with the problem, you can often transform it into
an opportunity for creative learning.
Playing with problems seems to come naturally to children. When they are
confused or afraid, they make their problems into a game, giving them a sense
of control and an opportunity to experiment with new solutions. Interacting
with others in playful ways helps you retain this creative ability.
Here are two examples of people who took everyday problems and turned them
around through laughter and play:
Roy, a semi-retired businessman, was excited to finally
have time to devote to golf, his favorite sport. But the more he played, the
less he enjoyed himself. Although his game had improved dramatically, he got
angry with himself over every mistake. Roy wisely realized that his golfing
buddies affected his attitude, so he stopped playing with people who took the
game too seriously. When he played with friends who focused more on having fun
than on their scores, he was less critical of himself. Now golfing was as
enjoyable as Roy hoped it would be. He scored better without working harder.
And the brighter outlook he was getting from his companions and the game spread
to other parts of his life, including his work.
Jane worked at home designing greeting cards, a job she
used to love but now felt had become routine. Two little girls who loved to
draw and paint lived next door. Eventually, Jane invited the girls in to play
with all the art supplies she had. At first, she just watched, but in time she
joined in. Laughing, coloring, and playing pretend with the little girls
transformed Jane’s life. Not only did playing with them end her loneliness and
mild boredom, it sparked her imagination and helped her artwork flourish. Best
of all, it rekindled the playfulness and spark in Jane’s relationship with her
husband.
As laughter, humor, and play become an integrated part of your life, your
creativity will flourish and new discoveries for playing with friends,
coworkers, acquaintances, and loved ones will occur to you daily. Humor takes
you to a higher place where you can view the world from a more relaxed,
positive, creative, joyful, and balanced perspective.
©Helpguide.org. All rights reserved. This reprint is for information only
and NOT a substitute for professional diagnosis and treatment. Helpguide.org is
an ad-free non-profit resource for supporting better mental health and
lifestyle choices for adults and children.
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