It is probably fair to say that most people feel better after watching something funny. Not only does it help you to destress by giving you something else to think about, but the physical act of laughing itself can also make you feel relaxed. This is because laughing activates and then releases your stress response by increasing and then decreasing your heart rate and blood pressure. When you laugh, your body also takes in more oxygen which helps to stimulate your heart, lungs and muscles and means that your brain releases more endorphins (one of the hormones that helps to promote happiness and can reduce depression and anxiety!). Moreover, laughter can reduce some of the physical symptoms of stress by stimulating your circulation and relaxing your muscles.
Perhaps more surprisingly, laughter has also been shown to have long-term effects on your body and health. For example, it can reduce pain in the long run because, as well as being a “happy hormone”, endorphins are also your body’s natural painkiller. Moreover, it can improve your immune system, making you less susceptible to getting ill. This is due to the fact that positive thoughts can release neuropeptides in your body which can potentially help you to fight stress and physical illnesses. On the other hand, when you are consumed by negative thoughts your body can be affected by chemical reactions which bring more stress into your system and decrease your immunity.
Laughter also carries long-term benefits for your mental health since it is a mood booster because it promotes feelings of happiness by decreasing your stress, anxiety and depression. This is because laughing stops you from feeling anxious, angry or sad in that moment. Moreover, the mood-boosting effect of laughter can improve your self-esteem and increase your personal satisfaction. Both of these things can help to make it easier for you to navigate and cope with difficult situations, and they are also likely to help you connect with other people, which could potentially bring about more opportunities for laughter.
Therefore, whilst laughter is clearly not the cure for everything, there is no harm in finding ways to laugh more in your day-to-day life. As a child you probably laughed several times a day however adult life, even as a student, tends to be more serious which makes laughter more infrequent. To reverse this and bring more laughter you’re your life again, you could try watching a few episodes of Friends or Miranda after a long day of lectures or, alternatively or additionally, buying a jokebook to share with your friends or housemates, or going to a stand-up comedy set.
However, one of the things that is most conducive to promoting laughter is quality spending time with other people since you a more likely to laugh when you’re in a group than when you’re alone. Just think about the jokes you get in Christmas crackers. Most of the time they really aren’t too funny if you just read them to yourself, rather it is the delivery of the joke and everyone’s reactions to it that leave you unable to stop laughing. Furthermore, laughter is contagious – there’s a reason that sitcoms use laugh tracks – so you are way more likely to laugh on days when you are surrounded by others than on days when you are alone, and, therefore, you have a new reason to spend lots of time with your friends: it improves your health!
