Laughter 😀 ... the best medicine?

[Guest8901]

Do you feel better after having a good laugh? It's scientifically proven that laughter is a really strong medicine, and results in significant health benefits. Did you know that laughter gives your mood a boost, helps to diminish pain, protects you from the many ill-effects of stress and aids your immune system?

Kids seem to laugh a lot, but as we reach adult status we tend to become more serious and laughter becomes less frequent. No doubt everyday stresses and adult responsibilities play a large part in this transition.

But wouldn't it be nice to find ways or opportunities to seek more humour and to be able to laugh more often? In doing so, you're (apparently) on track to improve emotional health, strengthen relationships, find greater happiness and possibly even add years to your life expectancy. And perhaps best of all, laughter - as an invaluable medicine - is fun, free, and user friendly.

When we're in the depths of depression and anxiety it often seems almost impossible to find anything to laugh about. So I've opened this thread in the hope of sharing the benefits of laughter, and to provide a place we can share what makes us laugh and to discover new ways of bringing laughter back into our lives.

If you'd like to share jokes or funny stories with others here, I'd love to read them, and hopefully others will too. Please keep jokes clean and respectful, in line with the community rules.

I'd also love to hear how you're able to add a bit of lightness and humour into your life, especially when times are tough. I'll post some ideas too, as I come across some. What makes you laugh - children, pets, movies? Do you have a favourite movie, one which you can be sure will give you a real belly laugh, or at least a giggle?

Please post anything to do with laughter here. Whether it's telling a personal funny story, recommending a funny movie, how you feel laughter has helped you feel better, ways you have found to bring laughter into your life.

Remember ... laughter is seriously good medicine for your health, both physical and mental. So let's all share ways we can have more of it. 😀

Amanda

[Crazy_hyper_girl]

I can tell you a funny story that happened today at tafe

I was sitting at the cafeteria with another guy from my course and i wanted to show him something so i reached down and tried to grab my bag but before i could do it i fell straight of my chair and everyone in the cafeteria looked at me and laughed. I laughed at myself as well though it was embrassing.

[murphy_sam]

I like watching funny and cute animal videos

[Guest8901]

Crazy Hyper Girl (CHG) thanks for telling your story. Sounds like a bit of slap stick humour there. But isn't it nice to be able to have a laugh at ourselves sometimes! Yeah maybe a little bit of embarrassment there too, but that wears off when we see that the laughter is all in fun. There is talk about the reason why we laugh when we see something like that happen, ie laughing at others misfortune. Some say its because we are happy it didnt happen to us, so we laugh out of relief. Its also said that when a person is made to look silly or clumsy it makes us feel better about ourselves, hence the laughter. Provided nobody was physically hurt and the laughter is all in good humour, I see nothing wrong with some light hearted laughter. I've seen you around a lot CHG, but dont believe I post to any of the same threads as you do. Until now! So its lovely to finally 'meet' you. Please feel free to come back again and make further contributions.

Murphy Sam thank you for posting. You're pretty new here I see, so a belated welcome from me to you. Oh yes, I'm with you on that. I too love to watch funny and/or cute animal videos. I see a lot of utube videos come through the internet with some absolutely hilarious clips of cats, dogs, horses, meercats, etc and love them. Sometimes when I feel really down I look for utubes like that. It does lighten the mood somewhat. And there have been some fairly recent series on television as well - such as "Pets - Make you Laugh out Loud", and I think another one with just Dogs, just Cats and another one with Babies. Definitely gets me laughing.

All Readers - Even if you're unable to find anything funny, did you know that it’s possible to laugh without experiencing a funny event? In fact simulated (or forced/false) laughter can be just as good for you as the genuine article. A study in America found that incorporating bouts of simulated laughter into an exercise program helped improve older adults’ mental health along with their aerobic endurance.

And we all know that laughter is infectious. Upon hearing someone else laugh, even if the reason is not apparent, it can trigger genuine laughter.

So perhaps we need to start laughing at other people’s jokes, even if you don’t 'get it' or find them funny. To do so will likely make both you and the other person feel good, could draw you closer together and may even lead to some spontaneous laughter.

What does everyone think?

Amanda

[geoff]

Hi Amanda, laughter is the best, I have an old friend, 40 odd years we (ex) have known he and his wife where we did many things together, but he and I would laugh at something the girls never found to be funny, and the more he laughed the more I laughed, the giggle set us off.

I still see them and nothing has changed except that I'm single.

There were times in depression where I could laugh when friends called around, but as soon as they left I crawled back into my dark hole.

The joy of laughing hasn't disappeared as I laugh quite easily and often laugh at something that nobody else finds laughable.

Geoff.

[Guest8901]

Hi Geoff and thanks for posting. I'm glad you have someone with whom you can share a healing laugh with. Even a brief respite from feelings of depression is beneficial, so never underestimate the importance of those chances you have of laughing with a good mate.

Humour is such an individual thing. We all laugh at different things. We all find different things funny. We all have a different sense of humour. Our thinking is different to others, and we dont always 'get' jokes.

But sometimes another's laughter in itself is cause for infectious laughter. Even our individual laughs are so different. Have you ever heard some people laughing and all you can do is actually laugh at the laugh itself? Some giggle, some snort, some have true belly laughs ... all very unique and special. All equally beneficial to our mental health and wellbeing. As I said in my opening post, even 'false' laughter is beneficial to us. So perhaps there is something to be said about 'faking it until you make it' when it comes to laughter?

There are many different types of humour, and this includes "put-down humour", "bonding humor" and "hate-me" humour. These types are considered aggressive humour which satirizes a person's unique quirks. "Warm humour" is clean and good-natured and "self-deprecating" humor is where we make fun of ourselves.

I think I tend to alternate between the categories of 'warm' and 'self-deprecating' humour. My humour can tend to be somewhat 'dry' or 'deadpan' at times as well. A dry sense of humor means lines are delivered without any significant change in emotion or body language. What type of humour do those of you reading have?

Amanda

[Guest8901]

So just what is the link between laughter and likely mental health benefits? Why is laughter considered beneficial to our mental health?

Here are just a few reasons for you to ponder:

• Laughter puts a stop to distressing emotions - you physically cannot feel anxious, angry or sad when you’re laughing

• Laughter helps you to relax and recharge your batteries - it reduces stress, increases energy and enables you to stay focused
• Laughter shifts our perspective, which allows us to see situations in a more realistic and less threatening light
• A humorous perspective creates psychological distance which in turn helps us to avoid feeling overwhelmed and reduces conflict
• Laughter draws us closer to others, and this has a very real and significant effect on all aspects of our mental and emotional health

So its very beneficial to find ways of bringing laughter into our lives. How do you do this? I'd love to hear your ideas.

Amanda

[Lici]

Hi Amanda (and a wave to all),

My laughter comes mostly from my boyfriend and his love of puns. He's constantly making groan worthy puns while we're shopping and he's even brought out his guitar and made song puns while playing.

It actually started on Facebook because we both follow pun pages and before we got together we'd share funny puns and pun memes with another throughout the day.

I'm not sure what it is about a good pun that's so funny. They're so bad that it should cause me to roll my eyes at the silliness, but I end up giggling for ages at some!

Thanks for the thread! Sometimes it's easy to forget that laughter exists so having a reminder is awesome 😊

Kind regards,

Lici

[Guest8901]

Hi Lici, and thanks for your contribution to this thread as well as your kind words about it. Its very much appreciated. Its only the 2nd thread I've opened, other than my own support thread. So it was a little daunting, not knowing if anybody would be interested or even bother to read or respond. But laughter, as a healing force, is a very real 'medicine'. And the benefits of it should not be underestimated. As you say, it is easy to forget that laughter still exists. So we must remind ourselves sometimes to actually chase that elusive thing called laughter and humour.

I'm very appreciative of the clever pun. For those who dont know, a PUN is a form of word play that exploits multiple meanings of a term, or of similar-sounding words, for an intended humorous or rhetorical effect.

I will shortly post about ways you can look for laughter.

Amanda

[romantic_thi3f]

Hi!

Oh what a great post! Laughter is SO important and I always feel good after a good laugh. I'm also really glad you made the post even though it was a little daunting! It seems like it's getting popular!

Your post feels like a little bit of a bop in the nose to me (in a nice way!) - my life feels like it's been so serious lately and I haven't really done or seen anything that feels happy? So I'm going to make it my mission today so see if I can get a little giggle in there!

Anyway, things that make me laugh...

- Really bad puns and jokes. Especially dad jokes. The awful ones in Christmas crackers always make me laugh because they're so terrible.

- Youtube clips. I like watching some SNL (Saturday Night Live) skits and ones with puppies or kids.

- Kids in general. They just giggle at anything.

- TV shows. I haven't really seen any good ones lately but I really liked 'Whose line is it anyway?' Also stand up in general can be pretty good. I like Lano and Woodley too.