During states of high emotional
arousal (whether joy or pain) we often use non-verbal sounds to communicate our
feelings. For example, while angry we may scream or yell. Laughter is another
one of these non-verbal sounds. It is typically seen as an expression of
happiness, joy, surprise, and sometimes even stress.
First of all, as our social world develops
further, we share laughter with others in a myriad of different ways. Sometimes
we even find ourselves laughing just because other people laugh, even if we
don’t know why they are laughing. This demonstrates a kind of behavioral and
emotional contagion involved with laughter (probably as a result of empathy).
Second, when neuroscientists look into
our brains while we laugh, they find a lot of neural activity that suggests our
brains “get ready to laugh” whenever we hear it. This suggests that laughing
may be something that is supposed to be shared between individuals. Laughter
produces endorphins in our brain that make us feel immediately better and
relieved afterward. Ever had a good long laugh, where your stomach begins to
ache, and you feel like a million bucks? Laughter is a great way to create and
share feelings of pleasure and joy with others.
Also, laughter has shown to be
really good for your physical health. It can relax your muscles, lower stress
hormones, boost your immune system, prevent heart disease, even it is used in
therapy in diabetes care, because laughter raises good cholesterol and lowers
inflammation in our heart.
One more thing is that sometimes
we laugh in really stressful situations. This is a healthy coping mechanism and
it can be seen as an important reframe to an otherwise unpleasant experience.
Laugh can help us to minimize physical, mental and emotional pain by looking at
a situation from lighter side.
In conclusion I would like to say
once again that laughter is the best medicine, indeed. It’s kind of natural antidepressant.
I have always believed that laughter should be an essential part of our daily
routine. We like being around laughter, because it is contagious, and because
it makes us feel so good.
