Humour.....the Health Benefits
Research has shown that humour has many health benefits. It increases oxygen intake and blood circulation thus lowering your blood pressure; it reduces the water vapor and carbon dioxide in the lungs, decreases the risk of pulmonary infection; improves the function of blood vessels and increases blood flow, which can help protect you against a heart attack and other cardiovascular problems[1]; it works your stomach muscles, boosts your immune system, releases natural painkillers in the body, reduces stress levels, boosts the body’s production of infection-fighting antibodies and helps your body recharge. Bet you’re feeling better already. If you haven’t had a heart attack yet then see, you’ve probably exercised your heart from many occasions of jolly laughter.
Now we’re not for one second saying that if you laugh a lot of laugh continuously you will always be in good health, I mean you’ve often heard people use the term ‘I died laughing’, of course to suggest or imply they laughed so much they died from it, mind you in Northern Ireland that can take on a different meaning altogether but it’s clear, laughing is good for you. There are of course some health problems that no matter how much you laugh or have laughed in the past you need clear medical intervention but the average punter like you and I laughing has many benefits.
It works out the diaphragm, abdominal, respiratory, facial, leg, and back muscles and is estimated by scientists that laughing 100 times equals the same physical exertion as a 10 minute workout on a rowing machine or 15 minutes on a stationary exercise bike. So only 98 laughs to go....! How many times have you laughed so much that your side was sore or sides were ‘splitting’? Well essentially that means there are muscles you haven’t been exercising and if you haven’t been exercising them before you need to. So laughing hard, which of course is free and costs nothing can exercise muscles that you might have signed up to a gym to do so.
William Fry, a pioneer on laughter research, in an article for WebMD was said to indicate that it took ten minutes on a rowing machine for his heart rate to reach the level it would after just one minute of hearty laughter.
In order to laugh you of course you need a sense of humour. Aside from the physical benefits there are psychological, emotional and social benefits. Humour can also help you be more spontaneous, be less defensive, release inhibitions and be more honest with your feelings, it also helps you shift perspective, i.e., see things in a different light. How often have you spoke with someone about a serious issue and ended up making light of it or cracking a few jokes about the situation and came away from it looking at things in a different way? See, and your friend comes away thinking, flip, the next time I won’t be so quick to answer the phone!
It also combats fear, comforts you, helps you to relax, spreads happiness, cultivates optimism, helps communication.[2] Even those who have experienced adversity can find humour as it can help acknowledge and dispel negative emotions and strengthen social support among people who have come through trauma and challenges. It can also be a way for people who have survived a difficult experience to mentor and encourage those who are still going through it.[3]
According to Craig Zelizer, Humour can be used to help groups deal with tensions, release frustrations and also heal mental and emotional wounds. The use of humour for releasing emotions that have built up as a result of conflicts can be particularly important to help groups cope and maintain their sanity.[4] James O’Dea puts it another way
The effervescence of laughing and coming together and then surrendering from there to a deeper joy of collaboration gives us the taste of the huge richness of this subject for peace-building. When we are plugged into the primal and unifying field of connection, for which laughter is an obvious but not exclusive door, our body and mind reward us with a cascading flow of inner delight that spreads to other.[5]
Obviously, Craig’s the academic and James is the ‘touchy feely’ guy but listen, both are revered and respected in their own professions so what they say has some merit at the very least.
Humour is an underlying character trait associated with the positive emotions used in the broaden-and-build theory of cognitive development. Research investigating the psycho-neuroimmunological effects (interaction between the nervous and immune systems) of laughter has found that there is a strong relationship between good health and good humor.
Psychologist Steve Sultanoff, Ph. D., who is the president of the Association for Applied and Therapeutic Humor, offers this explanation:
With deep, heartfelt laughter, it appears that serum cortisol, which is a hormone that is secreted when we’re under stress, is decreased. So when you’re having a stress reaction, if you laugh, apparently the cortisol that has been released during the stress reaction is reduced.
Studies at the University of Maryland found that when a group of people were shown a comedy, after the screening their blood vessels performed normally, whereas when they watched a drama, after the screening their blood vessels tended to tense up and restricted the blood flow. Studies also show stress decreases the immune system.
Some studies have shown that humor may raise infection-fighting antibodies in the body and boost the levels of immune cell. When we laugh, natural killer cells which destroy tumors and viruses increase, along with Gamma-interferon (a disease-fighting protein), T-cells (important for our immune system) and B-cells (which make disease-fighting antibodies). As well as lowering blood pressure, laughter increases oxygen in the blood, which also encourages healing.
Rob Gee, leads improvisation and sketch workshops with primary school children and tell us that
‘Some teachers run scared of allowing comedians to teach their kids, but they shouldn't be so sceptical. Why not? Think of what a huge problem it is getting boys to read and write. When I teach kids about sketch comedy, they love to write down their sketch ideas. It's one of the few times you can see them enjoying writing. So learning how to do sketches helps improves their literacy, their confidence, their self-esteem....It's the antithesis of the traditionalist view of what should be happening in schools, but given that most of the jobs that our kids will be doing in the next 50 years haven't been invented yet, it seems important to train kids to be flexible, have self-esteem, be literate, rather than follow a traditional curriculum – comedy can help with those things.’[6]
So there you are, I rest my case your honour. Ok, seriously, which given the topic seems a little ironic to say that but it’s clear, laughter is good for you, very good for you. The expression, ‘laughter is the best medicine, is not merely an expression. So next time someone says ‘stop laughing’, use the opportunity to have a conversation about the benefits of laughter and the importance of having a sense of humour....unless of course you’ve just been arrested or someone has a gun pointing at you.
[1] Laughter is the Best Medicine, http://www.helpguide.org/life/humor_laughter_health.htm
[2] 9 Ways Humour Heals, Borchard T.,
[3] Humour & Resilience, http://www.pbs.org/thisemotionallife/topic/humor/humor-and-resilience
[4] Laughing our Way to Peace or War: Humour and Peacebuilding, Zelizer C., 2010
[5] Cultivating Peace, James O’Dea J., 2012,
[6] The science of comedy: can humour make the world a better place? Jeffries S., The Guardian, Tuesday 11 February 2014
http://www.theguardian.com/stage/2014/feb/11/science-comedy-academics-social
