Whether you like April Fool’s pranks or not, the general sentiment of starting off the month with a bit of levity is one that most people can get behind. We need humor in order to give us relief from the stress that we often find ourselves faced with. And it turns out, humor can have a major impact on our mental health and wellness. Laughter can actually create a chemical change in the body, relieving stress and improving your mood and resilience.
In today’s blog, let’s discuss how humor plays a role in mental health and wellness.
The Impact of Humor on Mental Health
It doesn’t take a neuroscience expert to know that a good joke can put you in a better mood. For as long as jokes have existed, we’ve used them as a way to cheer people up when they feel down. The question is how, and that’s a subject that has long been studied. For instance, one study in 1989 had subjects sit down and watch a funny video for one hour. They found that in these subjects, cortisol levels — the hormone responsible for stress — reduced drastically within the first 30 minutes: from a baseline of 240 ± 60 to 90 ± 10.1
Other studies have found that humor has a wide range of mental health benefits, from managing pain relief to improving emotions and interpersonal processes.2 The “science of humor,” as it’s called, is a relatively new one, cropping up in the past 50 years or so. We’re still learning the full extent of mental health benefits and the science behind them. But for now, let’s dive into the impacts that we know can come from humor.
Reduces Stress
Boosts Pain Tolerance
Laughter can also boost your tolerance to pain, again by releasing those endorphins and lowering your cortisol levels. While this may be a physical health benefit on the face of it, it can also impact your mental health.
If you suffer from chronic pain, or if you’re in pain while struggling with a long-term mental illness, it can have an impact on your mood and energy. You may be less focused and more lethargic while you’re in pain. If you can manage your pain, you’ll have more energy to get out there and face the day. Laughter can also help by boosting your immune system, making you more physically resilient and thus helping you have less to manage emotionally.
Improves Mood
This may seem obvious, but it can be impactful, especially for those who struggle with anxiety and depression. When you can distract yourself from depressive symptoms or from distressing emotions with humor, it can help you to feel happier and therefore more hopeful. With this improved mood, you might feel more prepared to face the day.
Helps You Cope
When you’re able to laugh through a difficult situation, it can help you feel more prepared to face it. You’ve likely met someone who talks about coping through difficult situations with humor, and while sometimes this can be avoided, there is something to it. In fact, humor can help you to radically accept the situation you’re in and even find a bright side to it.
Connects You Socially
Forced or Spontaneous Laughter: Does It Matter?
Tips For Adding Humor To Your Life
Of course, it’s one thing to talk about the mental health benefits of humor and another to actually add more humor to your life. Here are a few ways that you can improve your sense of humor and laugh more for those mental health benefits:
- Know What’s Funny To You — And What Isn’t. Consider watching a few comedy specials, sitcoms, or comedic movies to get a sense of what you find funny, and what you don’t. Insensitive jokes may make you feel worse instead of better. But when you know what works best for you, you can seek it out.
- Surround Yourself With Things That Make You Happy. Find the music that makes you happy, books or movies, funny friends, and more. You can also look for little things that give you a chuckle and keep them in a box to bring out when you need that laugh.
- Go Out for Laughter If You Can. Social media, streaming services, and the internet overall can be a great way to find good jokes easily accessible. But if you’re able to, it can help to go out for a laugh. Spend time with friends doing something fun or go to an improv or comedy show. You could even participate if that strikes your interest.
Our skilled and compassionate clinicians can help you develop healthy coping mechanisms involving humor or other skills that help you to better face your daily life. Visit our services page to learn about the services we offer, or explore our find a provider page to schedule an appointment today.
Resources:
- Neuroendocrine and stress hormone changes during mirthful laughter – Berk, L.S.; Tan, S.A.; Fry, W.F.; Napier, B.J.; Lee, J.W.; Hubbard, R.W.; Lewis, J.E.; and Eby, W.C., 1989
- The Use of Humor in Serious Mental Illness: A Review – Evidence Based Complementary Alternative Medicine
- Stress Relief from Laughter? It’s No Joke – Mayo Clinic
- The social life of laughter – Scott, Sophie; Lavan, Nadine; Cohen, Sinead; and McGettigan, Carolyn, 2015
- Effect of Forced Laughter on Mood – Foley, Erin; Robert Matheis; Charles Schaefer, 2002
