Laughter is THE BEST Medicine

The Benefits of Laughter

Haven’t we all heard that old saying – ‘Laughter is the best medicine?’ Well, it seems there is a lot of truth in it. Research in various aspects of the benefits of laughter has shown that we cannot really do without it! 

Gelotology - the study of the physiology of laughter, has thrown up some interesting results about what laughter actually does for us. 

Laughter, believe it or not, is a an all round aerobic exercise which increases lung capacity and cardiac output – and the increase in blood flow through your veins rejuvenates the tissues and organs of the body. Greater levels of inhalation of fresh air and exhalation of stale air during laughter improve blood oxygenation and help people with respiratory problems and aid ventilation by clearing the respiratory tract. 

Laughter also reduces the levels of stress hormones (like cortisol) and neurochemicals guilty of suppressing our immune system, thereby boosting our ability to fight disease. Levels of disease combating cells such as T cells and B cells, which are at the frontline of our natural defenses, increase considerably when we laugh. 

Laughter also releases endorphins, which increase our threshold of pain and make us feel good about life.

Laughter has immense benefits for the human mind. Children have no problems with venting their feelings – they laugh, cry, sulk, yell and dance with joy at the drop of a hat. But as we grow older, we tend to internalize all our negative emotions like hurt, anger and anxiety instead of expressing them. Such negative emotions can cause serious damage to our health. Laughter therefore acts as a catharsis and helps us release these harmful emotions and lifts us out of our gloom. 

Laughter is a great way to create (or recreate) a positive emotional bond between people. People who laugh together form a mutual understanding and empathy.  Their thinking and emotions become attuned to the extent that they can share in the feelings of one another; a sense of belonging develops giving them emotional stability. 

The playfulness connected with laughter also helps us go back to our childhood and make us happy. 

Laughter, if not anything, is a great social signal. There is hardly any laughter if there is no one to share it with, unless you consider watching a sitcom on your own, which again is a simulated social environment.

Laughter helps people connect with one another and contributes to the acceptance of an individual into a social group (breaking the ice), and in the formation of social groups among peers. Laughter is also very contagious; the sound or sight of someone laughing triggers an urge to laugh ourselves. We want to share in the fun, and laugh along. 

Finally, laughter is unique to human beings, a ‘higher level’ phenomenon we do not share with anyone else in the animal kingdom. This has led many to think of laughter in spiritual terms, as a divine blessing.