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Laughing heartily is considered healthy, and there is scientific evidence of this. But it is far too little used as a therapeutic approach for mental illnesses, complains a researcher from Jena. It would be so easy – and fun.
From a researcher’s point of view, laughter should be used more therapeutically. “I don’t think the potential has been exhausted. Even if we don’t tend to get prescribed laughter,” said psychologist Jenny Rosendahl from Jena University Hospital on the occasion of World Laughter Day on Sunday. Targeted offers could be helpful, especially for stress prevention or for lonely people, said Rosendahl. With the clinic clown movement, the issue has already reached hospitals.
Because laughter doesn’t just have a positive effect on your mood, she emphasized. The cardiovascular system and immune system also benefited from this. Studies have not only measured that laughing at a joke or for another reason has a positive effect. Artificial laughter – such as laughter yoga – also has measurable effects. World Laughter Day comes from the laughter yoga movement and is always celebrated on the first Sunday in May.
But a quick laugh isn’t enough, said Rosendahl: “You need a dose of laughter to achieve health-promoting effects.” In 2022, together with her student Katharina Stiwi, she published a review study in the specialist journal “Complementary Therapies in Clinical Practice”, which investigated the question of whether laughter is really healthy. The short answer: yes. The researchers evaluated a total of 45 studies from the past 30 years.
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They weren’t the first: in 2019, Dutch researchers analyzed several studies on the effects of laughter therapy. Their conclusion: Artificial laughter probably has even more positive effects than humorous laughter. And laughter therapy could be a promising approach. But there is still little good research on this, they said.
Laughter also reduces stress
Laughter is contagious, even if you don’t know why someone is laughing, explains psychiatrist Michael Titze from Tuttlingen in Baden-Württemberg: “Laughter is an expression of pure liberation, a complete release of tension.”
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But what exactly happens when we laugh? The area in the brain that is responsible for controlling the smile muscle in the face is activated, explains Titze, who is considered a pioneer of therapeutic humor in Germany and has published several books on the subject. 17 muscles in the face pull the corners of the mouth upwards and ensure a happy expression.
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When you laugh, almost 300 muscles throughout your body tense. For a short time the organism is very active, the metabolism is stimulated and happiness hormones are released. The effect can also be measured in the blood. Ingredients that serve the immune defense are increasingly formed there.
The founder of laughter research, the US psychiatrist Willam F. Fry (1924-2014), even compared laughter to exercise. According to him, 20 seconds of laughter corresponds to the physical effort of three minutes of fast rowing or running.
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Therapeutic laughter even works for people for whom other people’s laughter is torture, explains researcher Titze: So-called gelotophobics were often mocked and feared being laughed at. Because laughter can also exclude. As part of therapy, gelotophobics could learn to deal with laughter in a more relaxed manner.