Laugh and improve your health

“Laughter is important, not only because it makes us happy, it also has actual health benefits. And that is because laughter completely engages the body and releases the mind. It connects us to others, and that in itself has a healing effect. “ ( Marlo Thomas)

We have all heard the age old saying: “Laughter is the best medicine” and I’m pretty sure that all of you reading this article, have personally also used this saying in at least one or maybe two conversations yourself.

Is laughter really the best medicine and more importantly can it be beneficial to promote health especially mental health? Let us explore.

The human body as spectacular as it is, contains very important hormones produced in the brain known as endorphins. These hormones are released when we feel pain or stress. The purpose of endorphins is thus, to help relieve pain, reduce stress in the body and to more pertinently, linking back to mental health, improves mood.

Now let us link it back to laughter and investigate what happens when we laugh. When we laugh, these “feel-good” hormones ( The Endorphins), are released and positive outcomes start to happen. Your mood is improved and pain and stress is relieved.

In the many stressful situations that we find ourselves in, who wouldn’t welcome that feeling of improved mood and stress release? In fact laughter is so beneficial to us that it can improve the quality of life as highlighted in the Norway study cited below:

“A study in Norway found that people with a strong sense of humour outlived those who don't laugh as much”.(Helpguide.org).

Bearing the above in mind, is there a link between laughter and mental health? The Newport academy, believes so and lists a few benefits of laughter. These include: that it decreases anger, eases anxiety and improves relaxation. So what does this all mean for us? Let’s break it down:

If through laughter our feel good hormones are released, we then experience the body’s natural way of reducing stress and pain and improved mood.

When we laugh we start to relax and tension decreases, allowing us to be present, experiencing the moment with clear intent, with increased energy and drive.

We gain more focus when relaxed as our thoughts and emotions are not clouded with anxiety, fear and stress and with new focus comes introspection and reflection, which aides in better and informed decision making.

Laughing helps in reducing anger as it could lead to a new way of looking at things, and identifying and developing positive coping mechanisms. In fact laughing can possibly add to improved resilience.

Additional benefits of laughter include:

Decreased pain ,as the body releases its natural painkillers

Improved relationships, a positive disposition, attracts people, aides better understanding of people and decrease in negative mood

Improved physical health, less stress means more energy, more activity decreased disease

So what’s the bottom line? The list of benefits of laughter is an exhaustive one. So whether you laugh from deep inside your belly or cackle with glee, or simply just smile, always make sure that you make time to laugh!

So keep Laughing

Yours in Wellness

Dr Naz