Laughing is not just amusing but good for one’s well-being. The therapeutic value of laughter has been thoroughly studied for the last decades and even laugh-based interventions were proposed as a method of healing. Recently, interest in non-invasive and non-pharmacological therapy has increased. Laughter therapy has grown in popularity and received much attention in the media. Therefore, many researchers have investigated the nature of the process and its influence on the organism. Having much power to renew and strengthen a person’s body, laughter is an interminable resource of surmounting one’s health. This paper seeks to investigate the benefits and therapeutic value of laughter.
Primarily, it is necessary to mention that laughter’s first benefit concerns its ability to protect cardiovascular systems, especially the heart. The laughter mechanism helps prevent the emergence of large amounts of cholesterol and fats in and on the artery walls. Moreover, it can increase harmless cholesterol (HDL), which pushes away harmful cholesterol cells (Yim 246). A good genuine laugh causes the inner lining of your blood vessels to expand, releasing nitric oxide. This chemical compound helps reduce inflammation and prevent plaque formation in the arteries. Laughter can be just effective at reducing inflammation as aerobic exercise or taking cholesterol-lowering medications known as statins.
Moreover, laughter causes fewer arrhythmias and relapses of myocardial infarctions during cardio rehabilitation (Yim 248). The cardiovascular system is the primary system affected by laughter. Thus, having mocking at a good joke can help accelerate the circulation and provide oxygen to the organs, especially to the lungs, heart, and muscles. The high blood pressure significantly lowers after laughing for some time.
In addition, it relaxes muscles and kills pain in the body. Typically, the muscles not involved in the process of laughing are subjected to relaxing afterward. For instance, after an intense workout on the lower body parts, one can laugh and the pain will vanish for a while. Moreover, laugh can release natural painkillers named endorphins, which are responsible for alleviating chronic aches.
The other value of laughter relates to stress relief. When people stress out too much, there is always a body response, which is realized through various diseases. Therefore, there is a fit of stress, one needs to laugh it off. A portion of good laugh decreases cortisol, a stress hormone, stimulates blood flow throughout the body, and provides oxygen to the organs (Bains 18). It is also capable of diffusing anger or depression and ameliorates the general sense of health.
The other significant advantage of laughter that proved to be relevant is its ability to boost the immune system. To begin with, the viruses and tumor cells are attacked by an increased number of natural killer cells. Furthermore, more helper T-cells are activated, which help organize the immune system’s response. The antibody immunoglobulin A’s quantity is boosted, which helps to fight the respiratory diseases. It was found that laughter is much efficient over placebo in treating immune conditions; it also reduces the glucose level in blood (Cha and Hong 227). The B-cells become high in number and create antibodies that protect people’s bodies from infectious microorganisms.
Furthermore, laughter is a sustainable method of losing weight. It was scientifically proven that adding laughter to a daily diet and sports regimen helps burn more calories. Ten or fifteen minutes of watching a hilarious video or exchanging anecdotes with a friend burns around 40 calories (Yim 247). When one laughs, the cortisol reduces, causing metabolism to lower, which influences the entire body. Notably, it can affect belly fat because, during smiling, the belly muscles expand and contract, which resembles the abdominal exercises.
In contemporary society, the stress level rises daily due to psychological, social, and economic stressors. Somehow this stress has a negative impact on self-esteem, affecting the quality of life and personal motivation; moreover, it intensifies depression and leads to harmful effects on the person’s psyche and health (Cha and Hong 222). Therefore, there is a need to renew the energy resources a person has and return to a healthy emotional condition. Undoubtedly, laughter unites people – one cannot have that much fun on their own. Humour and playful interaction strengthen relationships, evoke positive feelings, and create a strong emotional bond. This bond allows people to be spontaneous, forget judgments and biases, release inhibitions, and express real emotions, either positive or negative. Laughter is a mighty tool for managing conflict and reducing the tension when the emotions take control.
In conclusion, it seems reasonable to state that such simple things as laughter, entertainment, and joy may positively impact one’s health altogether with the prescribed medicine. As it was found out, laughter has is widely implemented and has valuable therapeutic characteristics. Exchanging one or two jokes with friends or family daily can improve cardiac health, immune system, relax muscles, relieve stress, and even make one’s body slim. In general, it significantly impacts the physical and psychological state of a person. The overall impact of laugh has been accepted and is still used as an additional therapy.
Works Cited
Bains, Gurinder, et al. “Humors effect on short-term memory in healthy and diabetic older adults.” Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine, vol. 21, no. 3, 2015, pp. 16-25.
Cha, Mi Cha, and Hong, Hae Sook. “Effect and path analysis of laughter therapy on serotonin, depression and quality of life in middle-aged women.” Journal of Korean Academic Nursing, vol. 45, 2015, pp. 221-230.
Yim, JongEun. “Therapeutic Benefits of Laughter in Mental Health: A Theoretical Review.” The Tohoku journal of Experimental Medicine, vol. 239, 2016, pp. 243-249.