Who Says Laughter Isn't Good For You?

Laughter is the sleep-holder of misery.

The trope implies that laughter is not what replaces our feelings of guilt, anger, or ambivalence, but it serves as a therapeutic response, which impels both internal and external stimuli. There are several factors that make us burst out in laughter. We might daydream about ourselves involved in a non-sequitur situation. In speech, we might accidentally utter a malapropistic phrase that comically unsettles our listeners in conversation. Lastly, we’ll laugh after a few slapstick jokes we’ll catch from some of our favorite cartoon shows. Believe it or not, there is a science, which deals with the investigation of the psychological, mental, and physiological aspects of laughter called gelotology. Gelotology is derived from the Greek word gelos, which means laughter.

In the many various circumstances, we experience in life, and we sometimes forget to, as the idiomatic saying goes, live a little.

Laughter heartens us, and reinforces the emotional aspect of our lives. We might experience trouble maintaining money to uphold our needs and wants. We might also forget to laugh because we’re unhealthily discombobulated with making life decisions in order to progress and grow as human beings. One might question the irrefutable power of laughter and say that people who laugh too much might be a little loopy.

On the contrary, there is nothing wrong with people who might have an inclination to laugh a lot. In fact, that can be a good thing. Laughter is a valuable facet of the human condition. Likewise, it is a coping mechanism that helps us get through our roughest days. Whenever we laugh, the physiognomic structure in our faces changes, creating sensations of feeling joy, sorrow, nervousness, and confidence.

Personally, I love to laugh. Since high school, I’ve been known for having an expressive, contagious laugh. It helps calm me down. It livens my spirit, and makes me feel alive again. A few healthy benefits of laughter include the reduction of stress hormones, the release of endorphins, and the improvement of one's mood.

This is kind of a funny story, actually.

I used to work as a shop-at-home associate for a ShopRite company in Orange County, N.Y. Through several of my work shifts, I was functioning on autopilot. I made a habit of going to sleep late. I rarely made effort to motivate myself to go to sleep by 9 p.m. at the latest. Being sleep deprived, sometimes, I’d lose some incentive to work…like, why am I still working here? To keep myself awake, I’d scarcely start dancing, stirring up casual conversation with my boss or a few of my coworkers, and make random, punny jokes to get them to laugh.

Laughter is a signifier of social inclusion. If people are not practicing to communicate, whether it is on the phone, a video call, or in person, the messages that we continually exchange will be misunderstood. In essence, we, as a society, are innately social, living beings. When we laugh in the company of our friends and our families, it builds a stronger relationship within ourselves and the people around us. Sometimes, when any one of us is feeling blue, we need to keep things in perspective and remind ourselves to laugh with each other and at ourselves.