Why laughter really is the best medicine

Cat videos. A tickle attack. Tina Fey doing basically anything.

Chances are at least one of these things has reduced you to a fit of giggles or you can think of something else that’s left your eyes watery and your abs aching. Think about how that felt — did all your muscles turn to jelly and your entire body relax? Did you momentarily forget your annoying day at the office?

However you’d describe the experience, it probably felt great. And there are plenty of reasons why: a good laugh can do everything from soothing tension by taming stress and stimulating circulation to boosting endorphins, the feel-good brain chemicals responsible for that post-hilarity high. A study even found that participants had a higher tolerance for pain after watching funny clips from South Park, The Simpsons, and Friends.

Cracking up is also a great way to bond — studies show it’s 30 times more likely to happen in a social context than when alone. Sharing a joke or a laugh helps us connect on a personal, human level, it builds and strengthens relationships. These strong bonds have been shown to be possibly the most important piece in long and healthy lives. There’s always time for a good joke.

But laughter isn’t just a temporary fix — research shows it has long-term benefits too. Some studies indicate that a sense of humour is associated with enhanced immune function and one study found that depressed patients who took part in a Laughter Yoga group (which is exactly what it sounds like) experienced a significant decrease in depression and a significant increase in life satisfaction, suggesting the laughing practice was at least as effective as group exercise for boosting mental health.

It may not come as a surprise then that laughter plays a pretty important role in health care too. In fact, it’s a sneaky way many doctors get nervous patients to relax and the tactic is often hugely successful.

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