Picture yourself with a group of your family, friends, or coworkers. Can you recall a time when you laughed so hard that you are holding your stomach, or jaws, with tears running down your face? It felt good, right? After all, who doesn’t like a good belly laugh? Humor has made its way to the mental health scene. In fact, research indicates humor has positive benefits to mental wellness. Following are just a few benefits of laughter.
- Releases endorphins
- Alters dopamine and serotonin activity
- Reduces cortisol
- Outlet for suppressed emotions
- Decreases anger
- Increases energy level
- Changes perspective
- Increases social connections
- Reduces stress and anxiety
- Reduces pessimism
Some worry that humor in therapy may be misinterpreted as a minimization of a client’s suffering (Bokarius et al., 2011). The therapist and client could certainly discuss whether humor in therapy is appropriate for them. Outside of therapy, make sure you make time to laugh by hanging out with positive and happy people, smile more, set aside a time in the morning to laugh, read funny content, watch a funny show, have a date night and watch a comedy, or watch funny YouTube videos for 10-minutes a day. There are plenty of ways to get your daily belly busting laughs, so what are you waiting for? Start now!
Laughter is a powerful way to tap positive emotions. — Norman Cousins
Bokarius, A., Ha, K., Poland, R., Bokarius, V., Rapaport, M. H., & Ishak, W. W. (2011). Attitude toward humor in patients experiencing depressive symptoms. Innovations in Clinical Neuroscience, 8(9), 20-3.
4745 Old Road 37, Lakeland, FL
(863) 608-9392
lakelandcounselors@lakelandcounselors.com