The Healing Power of Laughter: Why a Good Laugh is Great for Your Health
Humor is more than just entertainment — it is a powerful tool for physical and mental well-being. Research shows that laughter can reduce stress, lower blood pressure, and boost immune function, making it a valuable addition to healthcare practices. This article explores the science behind humor’s healing effects and its role in patient care. Whether used by healthcare professionals or embraced in daily life, laughter offers a natural, accessible way to promote healing and well-being.
Laughter isn’t just about feeling good — it actually gives your body a mini workout, strengthens your immune system, reduces stress, and even helps with pain management. It turns out that a good chuckle does more than just lift your mood — it can have profound effects on your health. Let’s dive into why laughing every day might be one of the easiest and most enjoyable ways to improve your well-being.
What does Laughing Do For Us?
From clowns helping ease the fear of an upcoming procedure for children (Dionigi, Sangiorgi, & Flangini, 2014) to the effects laughter therapy can have on depression, cognition, and sleep among the community-dwelling elderly (Weekes, 2016) it is clear research supports the use of humor and laughter therapy. It is understood that laughter therapy gives our body various physiological and psychological workouts and can promote health (Hayashi et al. 2013; Bennett & Lengacher, 2009). It strengthens your immune system, boosts mood, diminishes pain, and protects you from the damaging effects of stress. In sum, humor offers remarkable health benefits.
Physical Benefits of Laughing
At its most basic level, laughter is an internal exercise for your body. As your diaphragm moves, you can breathe more oxygenated air and stimulate your lungs. During moments of raucous laughter, you relieve physical tension in your muscles. At the same time, various chemicals from your brain are naturally released into your bloodstream. One in particular, serotonin, is known to be activated by continuous exercise or yoga (Lim & Cheong, 2015). In the same ways exercise or yoga increases the positive energy and vitality of the body and activates serotonin in the blood. Laughter provides a similar influence by increasing our pulse and lung capacity and helping the digestive system (Yim, 2016). Therefore, as it increases blood’s dopamine and serotonin concentration, laughter therapy may be very effective in reducing depression as a non-pharmacological alternative treatment. In other words, you can improve your health every time you giggle. Thus, no matter if enhancing your immune system, slashing your blood pressure, reducing anxiety, or conquering your depression, studies support that laughter really can be the best medicine.
At the Heart of it All
Research consistently suggests that humor can positively affect the cardiovascular system, contributing to better heart health. While having your muscles relax during what seems like a minor activity, medical professionals argue that you improve your vascular functioning when you laugh. During our giggle fits, there is a momentary increase in heart rate and oxygen consumption, followed by a period of muscle relaxation and decreased heart rate, resulting in a decrease in blood pressure. In part, this is caused by vasodilation, the widening of blood vessels, which leads to increased blood flow and improved vascular function. A study by Miller, Fry, and Talbot (2009) found that laughter also causes endothelial-dependent dilation, indicating a beneficial impact on the cardiovascular system. This improvement in blood flow thus aids in temporary reductions in blood pressure.
Simply put, laughing can lead to temporary increases in heart rate, followed by muscle relaxation and a decrease in heart rate and blood pressure. This effect promotes better blood flow, and enhanced vascular function, and thus laughter-induced reductions in blood pressure can be especially beneficial for individuals with hypertension or at risk of cardiovascular diseases (Bennett & Lengacher, 2009). By reducing stress overall, humor may help mitigate the harmful effects of chronic stress on the heart and blood vessels. While the exact mechanisms through which humor influences the cardiovascular system continue to be studied, current findings suggest that humor can contribute to improved blood flow, lowered blood pressure, and stress reduction, all of which benefit cardiovascular health.
Reducing the Stress
Even though laughter is putting physical stress on our bodies, it is a stress that has a positive aspect and gives fresh and powerful energy. In other words, laughter can reduce negative cognitive responses and relieve stress (Bennett 2003; MacDonald 2004). It is reported laughter has the best effect among methods of relieving stress and that if we keep practicing even a forced laugh, our body will react to it and become more pleased and healthy (Ekman 1984; Lefcourt & Martin 2012).
When an individual experiences something stressful, hormones such as cortisol and adrenaline are released into the system. When a body experiences chronically elevated stress levels, these hormones’ detrimental effects on the body are observed (Akimbekov & Razzaque, 2021). Thankfully there is a universal non-pharmacologic approach to reducing stress and anxiety, laughing. Aiding in reducing stress, humor, and laughter activates the body’s natural relaxation response. This activation decreases heart rate, blood pressure, and muscle tension, promoting relaxation and calmness.
Not only does humor reduce stress on the heart, but it can effectively reduce various stressors we face and the associated adverse effects. For instance, when we laugh, we stimulate the brain to release endorphins, natural chemicals that act as painkillers and mood enhancers. Endorphins promote relaxation by producing feelings of pleasure and contribute to a sense of stress relief. Research has also suggested that humor and laughter can positively affect the immune system. Laughter may increase the production of antibodies, enhance immune cell activity, and improve the body’s defense against illnesses. This immune system stimulation thus can help counteract the adverse effects of chronic stress on our immune function. These physiological changes work together to counteract the stress response, reduce the impact of stress on the body, and promote a sense of well-being and relaxation. It’s important to note that the specific physiological responses to humor and laughter can vary among individuals, and the extent of the effects may depend on factors such as the intensity and duration of laughter.
Taking the Pain Away
Aside from helping reduce psychological stress, research also indicates that humor can help reduce physical stress caused by pain and can improve pain tolerance in individuals. I don’t know about you, but having someone offer distraction when I am in pain can help immensely, especially if they make me laugh. In some ways, this occurs because Humor acts as a distraction technique, diverting attention away from pain sensations. In other words, humor forces your brain to focus on other things. Engaging in humorous activities or finding humor in challenging situations can shift focus and reduce pain perception.
Additionally, laughter and humor promote the release of positive emotions, which can improve mood and provide emotional relief, indirectly reducing the experience of physical pain (Manninen, Tuominen, Dunbar, et al., 2017). As mentioned previously, laughing and experiencing humor can trigger the release of endorphins. Endorphins bind to opioid receptors in the brain, activating pain-inhibitory pathways and producing pain-relieving effects. This can help alleviate physical pain and provide temporary relief (Dunbar, Baron, Frangou, et al.; 2012). In times where humor may not alleviate the pain, it can, at the very least, increase the level of pain we can tolerate, referred to as the pain threshold. Studies have shown that exposure to humorous stimuli, such as funny videos or jokes, can raise the pain threshold and decrease pain perception (Pérez‐Aranda, Hofmann, Feliu‐Soler, et al.; 2019). Finally, humor can enhance coping mechanisms and promote a more positive outlook, influencing how individuals perceive and manage physical pain. By reducing stress, increasing resilience, and improving psychological well-being, humor contributes to an overall improved ability to cope with pain. While humor may not eliminate pain’s physical sensation, it can reduce pain perceptions. Incorporating humor into pain management strategies can serve as a complementary approach alongside medical interventions and other pain management techniques.
Laughing Each Day Keeps the Doctor Away
While it’s a newer area of research, studies indicate that laughing even enhances the immune system. For starters, deeper breathing occurs during laughter, resulting in increased oxygen intake. Adequate oxygenation supports the functioning of immune cells and improves their efficiency in combating pathogens. Next, we return to laughter’s encouragement for the brain to release endorphins. These neurotransmitters act as natural painkillers and mood enhancers; they have also been found to stimulate the immune system, promoting the production of immune cells and enhancing their activity. Activating immune cells such as natural killer cells (NK cells) and T-cells, essential components of the immune system responsible for detecting and eliminating infected or abnormal cells, laughter aids in improving the body’s ability to defend against viruses and cancer cells.
In addition to helping defend against viruses, Laughter has also been found to have anti-inflammatory effects (Murphy, 2006), which can help modulate the immune response and prevent excessive inflammation. Reducing such effects then aids in lessening chronic inflammation linked to various health issues, including autoimmune disorders and chronic diseases. Finally, laughter serves as a means of boosting Immunoglobulins. Immunoglobulins, also known as antibodies, are proteins that play a critical role in immune defense. Here, research suggests that laughter can increase the production of specific immunoglobulins (Kimata, 2004), thereby enhancing the body’s ability to fight off infections.
Research on laughter’s impact on the body is still emerging, but several studies, as highlighted here, have explored its effects and potential benefits. Though laughter and the use of humor provide a wealth of health benefits, evidence supporting humor lengthens life has yet to be found. Still, humor’s ability to increase pain tolerance has been proven time and time again (for example, Bennett, Zeller, Rosenberg, & McCann, 2003, Yusnaeni, Erika, & Rachmawaty, 2019). Physical and chemical changes in the body are also observed when laughter therapy is implemented (Mbiriri, 2020). As a result, countless studies support using humor in pain reduction, enhanced immune function, improved cardiovascular health, better respiratory function, and muscular relaxation. Incorporating humor and laughter into daily life and healthcare settings can contribute to overall physical well-being and may complement conventional medical treatments. Additionally, by incorporating laughter into daily life, we can promote a positive outlook, thus also improving mental health.
Review and Reflect
The truth is simple; the more you laugh, the more benefits you obtain. Humor can provide a new perspective on challenging situations, helping individuals reframe their thoughts and reduce stress. This reduction is partly caused by the brain’s release of endorphins, a natural chemical that promotes feelings of pleasure and well-being, which are triggered when we laugh. Thus, endorphins act as natural painkillers and can help reduce stress and physical discomfort (Bennett, Zeller, Rosenberg,& McCann, 2003). Laughter also activates the body’s relaxation response, decreasing stress hormones like cortisol and adrenaline (Fujisawa, Ota, Matsunaga, Li, Kakizaki, Naito, & Yatsuya, 2018). This response helps counteract the physiological effects of stress and induces relaxation. Similarly, laughing involves the activation and subsequent relaxation of various muscles in the body. This muscular release can help relieve tension and promote a sense of relaxation, which can contribute to stress reduction.
In collaboration with traditional medicine, laughter offers patients and providers a means of coping with challenging situations and agency. While laughter medicine takes skill and time to develop, laughter therapy can be implemented quickly and is cost-effective in patient care.
Want to Dive Deeper into the Power of Humor and Health?
Laughter is more than just a moment of joy — it’s a powerful tool for healing, connection, and resilience. If you found this article insightful and want to explore the fascinating relationship between humor and well-being even further, my book, Humor and Health in the Media: Raising the Question, Should Illness be Funny? takes a deeper dive into this topic.
In the book, I explore how humor is used in healthcare, media, and everyday life to cope with illness, reduce stress, and even challenge social norms. You’ll discover thought-provoking discussions, real-world examples, and research-backed insights into why we laugh — even in the face of adversity.
So, if you’ve ever wondered whether humor has a place in serious situations or how it can be harnessed for better health, this book is for you!
