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At times laughter can have the ability to instantly dry our tears or erase the tension in a room. This concept is constantly displayed in the heart-to-heart dialogues in movies and television. Why does this work though? This blog will cover what humor does to our brain and mental health, as well as how to use it even when you’re not feeling it.

First, let's look at an opposite of humor- Negative Thinking. Negative thinking can be tied to thoughts that we have about ourselves, others, and our environment. These thoughts can bring up negative emotions in us and lead to negative core beliefs about ourselves, others, and our environment when they are repeated. Negative thoughts can become negative chemical reactions in our brain and body. Similarly, positive thoughts can have positive chemical reactions in our brains and body. Humor is an effective way to access that positive physiological response and we can teach ourselves to access it when we really need it.

The Physiology of Humor

When we experience and interact with humor, we can have a whole-body reaction to the feelings it manifests. The act of laughing is a physical response that engages our whole body. We contract the muscles in our face, chest, stomach, arms, etc., when we let out our laughter. We create strong sensory memories of the moments that we are experiencing and connecting to through laughter as well. Just look at the photo below and you can almost hear his laugh because your brain automatically recognizes the joy and sounds of an experience like the one the boy in the photo is having. It immediately triggers experiences of your own.

This can happen because of the wonderfully intense physiological experience that is laughter. A good amount of laughter can actually engage our Fight-or-Flight Response. It increases our heart rate, disrupts our breathing tempo, stimulates our circulation and lungs, and releases endorphins. This may seem like a bad thing, but what it is doing is stimulating our bodies, waking them up with a form of excitement. It then quickly disengages our Fight-or-Flight response once our laughter has subsided and actually drops our heart rate and breathing to below their baselines, initiating a sense of relaxation- both physiologically and psychologically. So as we wipe the happy tears from our eyes and regain our breath, we feel relaxed and content.

Humor can also be shared- it can reduce your stress as well as the stress of those around you- creating an overall sense of calm and connection. It has been shown to be effective in group therapy settings. Remember the photo of the laughing boy- did it make you smile when you looked at it? Check again or look at this little girl laughing.

If it makes you smile, then you’re reacting to someone you don’t even know- someone who isn’t really in front of you. Just the visual of their laughter can release a strong positive response in your brain.

You can learn more about how strong visual cues can be in this blog:

Auditory cues can be just as strong- maybe this audio clip impacts you too?

Someone else’s joy has the ability to create changes in our brain as we release endorphins and neurochemicals when we hear it, see it, and possibly join in with it. Likewise, our joy can transfer to others. It is a bonding and grounding experience.

For non-severe forms of mental illness, humor has been shown to have beneficial short-term and long-term impacts because of these physiological effects, as well as numerous social impacts. More severe forms of mental illness cause significant impacts to daily functioning like Schizophrenia, Bipolar Disorder, and chronic Major Depression. More research needs to be done to adequately identify the rate of impact of humor on these severe forms of mental illness.

NOTE- there is a big difference between using humor as a tool to cope and build resiliency and using humor to disconnect from or deflect your feelings. Consistently using humor to hide from actually interacting with your own feelings, needs, or your impact on others can lead to negative mental health and poor functioning. Also be careful to not use other’s pain or experiences as the source of your humor or to allow yours to be the source of someone else’s.

This doesn’t mean that having a darker sense of humor is bad, though. A dark sense of humor can allow individuals to acknowledge difficult situations and voice intense feelings that they may have otherwise felt unable to express. As usual, it’s about finding a balance so your humor isn’t a deflection of your feelings or actions.

How To Boost Your Sense of Humor

Not everyone feels like they come by humor naturally. Sometimes engaging in jokes with others can feel intimidating. Sometimes it can be hard to navigate subjects that we don’t find humorous but others do. Sometimes we can feel low and have a hard time allowing ourselves to have fun or feel funny.

There are ways to boost your interactions with humor (and its benefits) on your own terms as well as in intentional settings. Luckily, laughter is free and can always be within reach, making it a very beneficial coping strategy when used properly.

Recall my previous points about the laughing children in the photos- visuals can be incredibly powerful for our brain. Having regular visual cues of humor, happiness, and laughter in your daily environment (home, room, car, work, etc.) can be a great place to start in building this coping tool.

You should also build your own internal sense of humor by trying to find the humor in your own life stressors. It doesn’t mean you minimize your stress, but instead you can take a step back and see it from a different angle. This can give you a chance to actually address it better.

This can work for addressing our irrational fears too. When we’re afraid of something that isn’t an actual threat to us in that moment- like a fear of spiders- allowing ourselves to visualize our fears in a comedic way can help reduce the intensity of that fear by reducing our overall avoidance of it. So you may picture a spider whose body is a disco ball or a bubble about to pop. This can work well for children too when we have them draw the silly version of their fear, like a monster under the bed that suddenly needs his own pacifier, diaper, and blanket. Have children draw this funny version of their fear as they discuss the silly new features to you.

There are even forms of laughter therapy if you’re looking for some extra help. This can be as common as medical clowns in hospitals working with children and cancer patients or as specialized as Laughter Therapy Yoga classes designed to build your comfort with forced laughing in group or individual settings. Laughter Therapy and Laughter Yoga are typically aligned with the concept that even when a laugh is forced at first, it can become contagious and can lead to laughing naturally and enjoyably. It teaches individuals to be more comfortable just laughing in the future without needing something funny to occur- they can cue themselves visually through memories or just by beginning to mimic a laugh and then building a feeling of joy from that laugh.

Remember- As you try to build any new habits or skills, start small. Making them something that you can manage consistently and build into a new routine that you can maintain is your best bet at long-term change and long-term benefits!

Citations

Gelkopf, Marc. The Use of Humor in Serious Mental Illness: Review. Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. 2011; 2011:342837

Savage BM, et al. Humor, laughter, learning, and health! A brief review. Advances in Physiology Education. 2017; doi:10.1152/advan.00030.2017.

Seaward BL. Comic relief: The healing power of humor. In: Essentials of Managing Stress. 5th ed. Jones & Bartlett Learning; 2021.

Yim J. Therapeutic benefits of laughter in mental health: A theoretical review. The Tohoku Journal of Experimental Medicine. 2019; doi:10.1620/tjem.239.243.