laughter is the best medicine essay

Laughter is the Best Medicine Essay for Students and Children

500+ words essay on laughter is the best medicine.

One of the best feelings in the world that also brings so much of cheer to life is laughter. It really is one of the best medicines in the world. Also, whether it’s a smile or just a slight giggle, laughter completely alters the atmosphere and mood of the surroundings. Furthermore, it makes you feel good and everyone around you will also feel positive vibes. The laughter is the best medicine essay teaches you the important benefits of inculcating laughter in day to day life. 

Laughter acts as a powerful antidote for pain, stress, and conflict. There is nothing that works faster in order to bring back mind and body into balance than a good laugh. Also, humor lightens your burden, connects you to others and keep you focused. Thus, laughter has so much power to renew and heal one’s mind and body. Also, the ability to laugh frequently is the best way to surmount the problems. Furthermore, it supports your emotional as well as physical health. Additionally, laughter also enhances your relationships. 

A good hearty laugh everyday relieves a person from stress and physical tension . Thus, even the muscles are relaxed after good laughter of 45 minutes. Laughter increases the immune cells in your body and decreases the stress hormones. Also, it fights the infection-fighting antibodies. So, it helps in improving a person’s resistance to power against the diseases. Laughter increases the blood in your body and also the functioning of blood vessels. Thus, it can help in protecting a person against a heart attack. 

Additionally, laughter helps you feel good. The good feeling that you actually get during laughter remains with you even when you stop laughing. Thus, laughter helps you with a positive view in difficult times. A slight smile or a laugh can do a world of good for you.

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Benefits of Laughing Regularly

Improves cardiovascular health.

Laughing is a good workout for your cardio. Especially for people that are not very active throughout the day can laugh several times. Also, you will burn calories and remain healthy by laughing. Laughing is an exercise where you inhale oxygen and this stimulates the heart. 

Releases Endorphins

There are tiny neurochemicals in our body in the form of endorphins that acts as a pain reliever. So, when you laugh, it releases the endorphins. Thus, it can help in reducing the pain and thereby enhances your mood. 

Lowers Blood Pressure

One of the simplest medicine to reduce your blood pressure is laughter. Besides, there are no side effects of laughter. There are only positive effects on one’s well being through laughter. Thus, it becomes important to have a daily dose of laughter to control your blood pressure. 

Reduces Stress

Laughter helps in reducing the level of stress hormones in one’s body. Thus, it will ultimately reduce the anxiety and stress that can negatively impact your body. Also, reduction in stress will lead to higher immune performance.

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The benefits of laughter

What are the physical, mental, and social benefits of laughter, laughter helps you stay mentally healthy, laughter brings people together and strengthens relationships, how to bring more laughter into your life, tips for developing your sense of humor, using humor to overcome challenges and enhance your life, laughter is the best medicine.

It’s fun to share a good laugh, but did you know it can actually improve your health? Learn how to harness the powerful benefits of laughter and humor.

It’s true: laughter is strong medicine. It draws people together in ways that trigger healthy physical and emotional changes in the body. Laughter strengthens your immune system, boosts mood, diminishes pain, and protects you from the damaging effects of stress. Nothing works faster or more dependably to bring your mind and body back into balance than a good laugh. Humor lightens your burdens, inspires hope, connects you to others, and keeps you grounded, focused, and alert. It also helps you release anger and forgive sooner.

With so much power to heal and renew, the ability to laugh easily and frequently is a tremendous resource for surmounting problems, enhancing your relationships, and supporting both physical and emotional health. Best of all, this priceless medicine is fun, free, and easy to use.

As children, we used to laugh hundreds of times a day, but as adults, life tends to be more serious and laughter more infrequent. But by seeking out more opportunities for humor and laughter, you can improve your emotional health, strengthen your relationships, find greater happiness—and even add years to your life.

Laughter is good for your health

Laughter relaxes the whole body. A good, hearty laugh relieves physical tension and stress, leaving your muscles relaxed for up to 45 minutes after.

Laughter boosts the immune system. Laughter decreases stress hormones and increases immune cells and infection-fighting antibodies, thus improving your resistance to disease.

Laughter triggers the release of endorphins, the body’s natural feel-good chemicals. Endorphins promote an overall sense of well-being and can even temporarily relieve pain.

Laughter protects the heart. Laughter improves the function of blood vessels and increases blood flow, which can help protect you against a heart attack and other cardiovascular problems.

Laughter burns calories. Okay, so it’s no replacement for going to the gym, but one study found that laughing for 10 to 15 minutes a day can burn approximately 40 calories—which could be enough to lose three or four pounds over the course of a year.

Laughter lightens anger’s heavy load . Nothing diffuses anger and conflict faster than a shared laugh. Looking at the funny side can put problems into perspective and enable you to move on from confrontations without holding onto bitterness or resentment.

Laughter may even help you to live longer. A study in Norway found that people with a strong sense of humor outlived those who don’t laugh as much. The difference was particularly notable for those battling cancer.

Physical health benefits

• Boosts immunity
• Lowers stress hormones
• Decreases pain
• Relaxes your muscles
• Prevents heart disease

Mental health benefits

• Adds joy and zest to life
• Eases anxiety and tension
• Relieves stress
• Improves mood
• Strengthens resilience

Social benefits

• Strengthens relationships
• Attracts others to us
• Enhances teamwork
• Helps defuse conflict
• Promotes group bonding

Laughter makes you feel good. And this positive feeling remains with you even after the laughter subsides. Humor helps you keep a positive, optimistic outlook through difficult situations, disappointments, and loss.

[Read: Cultivating Happiness]

More than just a respite from sadness and pain, laughter gives you the courage and strength to find new sources of meaning and hope. Even in the most difficult of times, a laugh–or even simply a smile–can go a long way toward making you feel better. And laughter really is contagious—just hearing laughter primes your brain and readies you to smile and join in the fun.

The link between laughter and mental health

Laughter stops distressing emotions. You can’t feel anxious, angry, or sad when you’re laughing.

Laughter helps you relax and recharge. It reduces stress and increases energy, enabling you to stay focused and accomplish more.

Laughter shifts perspective , allowing you to see situations in a more realistic, less threatening light. A humorous perspective creates psychological distance, which can help you avoid feeling overwhelmed and diffuse conflict.

Laughter draws you closer to others, which can have a profound effect on all aspects of your mental and emotional health.

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There’s a good reason why TV sitcoms use laugh tracks: laughter is contagious. You’re many times more likely to laugh around other people than when you’re alone. And the more laughter you bring into your own life, the happier you and those around you will feel.

Sharing humor is half the fun—in fact, most laughter doesn’t come from hearing jokes, but rather simply from spending time with friends and family. And it’s this social aspect that plays such an important role in the health benefits of laughter. You can’t enjoy a laugh with other people unless you take the time to really engage with them. When you care about someone enough to switch off your phone and really connect face to face, you’re engaging in a process that rebalances the nervous system and puts the brakes on defensive stress responses like “fight or flight.” And if you share a laugh as well, you’ll both feel happier, more positive, and more relaxed—even if you’re unable to alter a stressful situation.

How laughing together can strengthen relationships

Shared laughter is one of the most effective tools for keeping relationships fresh and exciting. All emotional sharing builds strong and lasting relationship bonds, but sharing laughter also adds joy, vitality, and resilience. And humor is a powerful and effective way to heal resentments, disagreements, and hurts. Laughter unites people during difficult times.

Humor and playful communication strengthen our relationships by triggering positive feelings and fostering emotional connection. When we laugh with one another, a positive bond is created. This bond acts as a strong buffer against stress, disagreements, and disappointment. Humor and laughter in relationships allows you to:

Be more spontaneous. Humor gets you out of your head and away from your troubles.

Let go of defensiveness. Laughter helps you forget resentments, judgments, criticisms, and doubts.

Release inhibitions. Your fear of holding back is pushed aside.

Express your true feelings. Deeply felt emotions are allowed to rise to the surface.

Use humor to resolve disagreements and tension in your relationship

Laughter is an especially powerful tool for managing conflict and reducing tension when emotions are running high. Whether with romantic partners, friends and family, or co-workers, you can learn to use humor to smooth over disagreements , lower everyone’s stress level, and communicate in a way that builds up your relationships rather than breaking them down.

Laughter is your birthright, a natural part of life that is innate and inborn. Infants begin smiling during the first weeks of life and laugh out loud within months of being born. Even if you did not grow up in a household where laughter was a common sound, you can learn to laugh at any stage of life.

Begin by setting aside special times to seek out humor and laughter, as you might with exercising, and build from there. Eventually, you’ll want to incorporate humor and laughter into the fabric of your life, finding it naturally in everything.

Here are some ways to start:

Smile. Smiling is the beginning of laughter, and like laughter, it’s contagious. When you look at someone or see something even mildly pleasing, practice smiling. Instead of looking down at your phone, look up and smile at people you pass in the street, the person serving you a morning coffee, or the co-workers you share an elevator with. Notice the effect on others.

Count your blessings. Literally make a list. The simple act of considering the positive aspects of your life will distance you from negative thoughts that block humor and laughter. When you’re in a state of sadness, you have further to travel to reach humor and laughter.

[Listen: Gratitude in Difficult Times]

When you hear laughter, move toward it. Sometimes humor and laughter are private, a shared joke among a small group, but usually not. More often, people are very happy to share something funny because it gives them an opportunity to laugh again and feed off the humor you find in it. When you hear laughter, seek it out and ask, “What’s funny?”

Spend time with fun, playful people. These are people who laugh easily–both at themselves and at life’s absurdities–and who routinely find the humor in everyday events. Their playful point of view and laughter are contagious. Even if you don’t consider yourself a lighthearted, humorous person, you can still seek out people who like to laugh and make others laugh. Every comedian appreciates an audience.

Bring humor into conversations. Ask people, “What’s the funniest thing that happened to you today? This week? In your life?”

Simulated laughter

So, what if you really can’t “find the funny?” Believe it or not, it’s possible to laugh without experiencing a funny event—and simulated laughter can be just as beneficial as the real thing. It can even make exercise more fun and productive. A Georgia State University study found that incorporating bouts of simulated laughter into an exercise program helped improve older adults’ mental health as well as their aerobic endurance. Plus, hearing others laugh, even for no apparent reason, can often trigger genuine laughter.

To add simulated laughter into your own life, search for laugh yoga or laugh therapy groups. Or you can start simply by laughing at other people’s jokes, even if you don’t find them funny. Both you and the other person will feel good, it will draw you closer together, and who knows, it may even lead to some spontaneous laughter.

Creating opportunities to laugh

• Watch a funny movie, TV show, or YouTube video.
• Invite friends or co-workers out to a comedy club.
• Read the funny pages.
• Seek out funny people.
• Share a good joke or a funny story.
• Check out your bookstore’s humor section.
• Host game night with friends.
• Play with a pet.
• Go to a “laughter yoga” class.
• Goof around with children.
• Do something silly.
• Make time for fun activities (e.g. bowling, miniature golfing, karaoke).

An essential ingredient for developing your sense of humor is to learn not to take yourself too seriously and laugh at your own mistakes and foibles. As much as we’d like to believe otherwise, we all do foolish things from time to time. Instead of feeling embarrassed or defensive, embrace your imperfections. While some events in life are clearly sad and not opportunities for laughter, most don’t carry an overwhelming sense of either sadness or delight. They fall into the gray zone of ordinary life—giving you the choice to laugh or not. So, choose to laugh whenever you can.

How to develop your sense of humor

Laugh at yourself. Share your embarrassing moments. The best way to take yourself less seriously is to talk about times when you took yourself too seriously.

Attempt to laugh at situations rather than bemoan them. Look for the humor in a bad situation, and uncover the irony and absurdity of life. When something negative happens, try to make it a humorous anecdote that will make others laugh.

Surround yourself with reminders to lighten up. Keep a toy on your desk or in your car. Put up a funny poster in your office. Choose a computer screensaver that makes you laugh. Frame photos of you and your family or friends having fun.

Remember funny things that happen. If something amusing happens or you hear a joke or funny story you really like, write it down or tell it to someone to help you remember it.

Don’t dwell on the negative. Try to avoid negative people and don’t dwell on news stories, entertainment, or conversations that make you sad or unhappy. Many things in life are beyond your control—particularly the behavior of other people. While you might view carrying the weight of the world on your shoulders as admirable, in the long run it’s unrealistic and unhealthy.

Find your inner child. Pay attention to children and try to emulate them—after all, they are the experts on playing, taking life lightly, and laughing at ordinary things.

Deal with stress. Stress can be a major impediment to humor and laughter, so it’s important to keep your stress levels in check. One great technique to relieve stress in the moment is to draw upon a favorite memory that always makes you smile—something your kids did, for example, or something funny a friend told you.

Don’t go a day without laughing. Think of it like exercise or breakfast and make a conscious effort to find something each day that makes you laugh. Set aside 10 to 15 minutes and do something that amuses you. The more you get used to laughing each day, the less effort you’ll have to make.

The ability to laugh, play, and have fun not only makes life more enjoyable but also helps you solve problems, connect with others, and think more creatively. People who incorporate humor and play into their daily lives find that it renews them and all of their relationships.

Life brings challenges that can either get the best of you or become playthings for your imagination. When you “become the problem” and take yourself too seriously, it can be hard to think outside the box and find new solutions. But when you play with the problem, you can often transform it into an opportunity for creative learning.

[Read: Managing Conflict with Humor]

Playing with problems seems to come naturally to children. When they are confused or afraid, they make their problems into a game, giving them a sense of control and an opportunity to experiment with new solutions. Interacting with others in playful ways helps you retain this creative ability.

Here are two examples of people who took everyday problems and turned them around through laughter and play:

• Roy , a semi-retired businessman, was excited to finally have time to devote to golf, his favorite sport. But the more he played, the less he enjoyed himself. Although his game had improved dramatically, he got angry with himself over every mistake. Roy wisely realized that his golfing buddies affected his attitude, so he stopped playing with people who took the game too seriously. When he played with friends who focused more on having fun than on their scores, he was less critical of himself. Now golfing was as enjoyable as Roy had envisioned. He scored better without working harder. And the brighter outlook he was gaining from his companions and the game spread to other parts of his life.
• Jane worked at home designing greeting cards, a job she used to love but now felt had become routine. Two little girls who loved to draw and paint lived next door. Eventually, Jane invited the girls over to play with all of her art supplies. At first, she just watched, but in time she joined in. Laughing, coloring, and playing pretend with the little girls transformed Jane’s life. Not only did it end her loneliness and boredom, but it sparked her imagination and helped her artwork flourish. Best of all, it rekindled the playfulness in Jane’s relationship with her husband.

As laughter, humor, and play become integrated into your life, your creativity will flourish and new opportunities for laughing with friends, coworkers, acquaintances, and loved ones will occur to you daily. Laughter takes you to a higher place where you can view the world from a more relaxed, positive, and joyful perspective.

More Information

• Buchowski, M. S., Majchrzak, K. M., Blomquist, K., Chen, K. Y., Byrne, D. W., & Bachorowski, J.-A. (2007). Energy expenditure of genuine laughter. International Journal of Obesity , 31(1), 131–137. Link
• Laugh and be thankful—It’s good for the heart—Harvard Health . (n.d.). Retrieved May 25, 2022, from Link
• Manninen, S., Tuominen, L., Dunbar, R. I., Karjalainen, T., Hirvonen, J., Arponen, E., Hari, R., Jääskeläinen, I. P., Sams, M., & Nummenmaa, L. (2017). Social Laughter Triggers Endogenous Opioid Release in Humans. The Journal of Neuroscience , 37(25), 6125–6131. Link
• Miller, M., & Fry, W. F. (2009). The effect of mirthful laughter on the human cardiovascular system. Medical Hypotheses , 73(5), 636–639. /p> Link
• Romundstad, S., Svebak, S., Holen, A., & Holmen, J. (2016). A 15-Year Follow-Up Study of Sense of Humor and Causes of Mortality: The Nord-Trøndelag Health Study. Psychosomatic Medicine , 78(3), 345–353. Link
• Speer, M. E., & Delgado, M. R. (2017). Reminiscing about positive memories buffers acute stress responses. Nature Human Behaviour , 1(5), 0093. Link
• Yim, J. (2016). Therapeutic Benefits of Laughter in Mental Health: A Theoretical Review. The Tohoku Journal of Experimental Medicine , 239(3), 243–249. Link

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Home — Essay Samples — Life — Laughter — Laughter Is The Best Medicine

Laughter is The Best Medicine

• Categories: Healthy Lifestyle Laughter

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Words: 613 |

Published: Mar 18, 2021

Words: 613 | Page: 1 | 4 min read

• Spontaneous laughter: It is also known as genuine laughter. Humor belongs to these groups. This is unrelated to one’s free will and is triggered by different stimuli and positive emotions. After researching other studies (n=33 and n=21) it was determined that natural killer cell activity was higher in the people who watch comedy shows/videos compared to the control. Another study of 20 subjects tells us those amusing movies produced a similar increase in epinephrine and norepinephrine levels an aggressive movie.
• Stimulated Laughter: It happens as a result of the physical action of certain stimuli. It is a frequent source of embarrassment when practiced with strangers.
• Induced laughter: It is chemical like laughing gas.
• Pathological laughter: It is often associated with crying and tends to be uncontrollable and excessive.
• Voluntary Simulated Laughter: It is the most universal and inclusive way to tap into our intercellular pharmacy and use laughter for health and wellness.

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Laughter as medicine: A systematic review and meta-analysis of interventional studies evaluating the impact of spontaneous laughter on cortisol levels

Caroline kaercher kramer.

1 Division of Endocrinology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada

2 Leadership Sinai Centre for Diabetes, Mount Sinai Hospital, Toronto, Canada

3 Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute, Mount Sinai Hospital, Toronto, Canada

Cristiane Bauermann Leitao

4 Division of Endocrinology, Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre, Porto Alegre, Brazil

5 Post-graduate Program in Medical Sciences: Endocrinology, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Brazil

Associated Data

All relevant data are within the paper and its Supporting Information files.

Laughter as an expression of humor has been recognized as good medicine for centuries. The health benefits of humor-induced well-being remain unclear and thus we conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of interventional studies to evaluate the impact of spontaneous laughter on stress response as measured by cortisol levels.

Systematic review and meta-analysis.

Data sources

MEDLINE/PubMed, EMBASE, PsycINFO, Scopus, and Clinicaltrials.gov.

Eligibility criteria

Interventional studies, which could be either randomized placebo-controlled trials (RCTs) or quasi-experimental studies, conducted in adults that compared any spontaneous laughter intervention to a controlled setting and reported changes in cortisol levels were selected.

Data extraction and synthesis

We examined the impact of laughter on percentage change in cortisol levels by calculating pooled estimates of the absolute differences between arithmetic means before and after interventions as compared to control using random-effects model.

Eight studies (315 participants; mean age 38.6) met our inclusion criteria; four were RCTs and four were quasi-experiment studies. Five studies evaluated the impact of watching a humor/comedy video, two studies evaluating laughter sessions administered by a trained laughter therapist, and one study evaluating a self-administered laughter program. Pooling these data showed a significant reduction in cortisol levels by 31.9% (95%CI -47.7% to -16.3%) induced by laughter intervention compared to control group with no evidence of publication bias (P = 0.66). Sensitivity analyses demonstrated that even a single laughter session induced a significant reduction of 36.7% in cortisol (95%CI -52.5% to -20.8%). In addition, analyses including the four RCTs reinforced these results by demonstrating a significant reduction in cortisol levels promoted by laughter as compared to the placebo arm [-37.2% (95%CI -56.3% to -18.1%)].

Conclusions

Current evidence demonstrates that spontaneous laughter is associated with greater reduction in cortisol levels as compared with usual activities, suggesting laughter as a potential adjunctive medical therapy to improve well-being.

Trial registration

Registration number: CRD42021267972 .

Introduction

Laughter as an expression of humor has been recognized as a good medicine for centuries [ 1 ], a concept consistent with human neurodevelopment. Specifically, the capacity for laughter in humans precedes the neural development of speech [ 2 ] with neuroimaging studies suggesting a unique neural pathway for spontaneous laughter (i.e. genuine laughter) [ 3 ] that is intuitive and subcortical. Documented in Charles Darwin’s classic work [ 4 ], ancestral forms of play homologous to human laughter have been reported in other animals (dogs, chimps, and even rats) [ 2 , 5 , 6 ] being perceived by Darwin and other authors as a natural response that restores homeostasis across diverse species including homo sapiens .

In 1976, a remarkable publication in The New England Journal of Medicine highlighted a potential therapeutic role for spontaneous laughter [ 7 ]. In that report, the author/patient described his regimen of self-prescribed laughter as an adjunctive therapy that provided him with potent anesthetic effect attenuating symptoms caused by ankylosing spondylitis: “I made the joyous discovery that 10 minutes of genuine belly laughter had an anesthetic effect and would give me at least two hours of pain-free sleep” [ 7 ]. Subsequently, recent research has linked laughter and humor with increased levels of pain tolerance [ 8 ], and positive impact in overall well-being in diverse medical settings such as oncology [ 9 ], psychiatry [ 10 ], and rehabilitation [ 11 ]. Data from a recent randomized controlled trial (RCT) demonstrated a positive and robust effect of having a humor journal on well-being [ 12 ], suggesting that humorous interventions are simple underutilized strategies that can help with coping in an adverse situation such as the coronavirus pandemic [ 13 ].

The activation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical (HPA) axis and consequent elevation in glucocorticoids is a key physiological response to either physical (i.e. acute and chronic diseases) or psychological stressors (i.e. anticipated recognition of a threat). Coupled with the autonomic nervous system, the HPA axis represents a vital neuroendocrine system that is dynamically regulated in a feedback-loop manner in order to maintain homeostasis of virtually the entire human body [ 14 ]. Despite the long-dated acknowledgment of humor as medicine, the impact of spontaneous laughter on neuroendocrine stress response remain unclear. Previous reports in adults have suggested that spontaneous laughter can impact the HPA axis by reducing cortisol levels [ 15 – 22 ]. However, the small sample sizes preclude definitive conclusions based on these individual studies, suggesting the need for a robust and systematic evaluation of the mechanistic effect of laughter by meta-analysis. Thus, we conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of interventional studies to evaluate the impact of spontaneous laughter on cortisol levels.

This systematic review and meta-analysis is reported in accordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) Statement and was registered with the International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews ( http://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/ ; CRD42021267972) [ 23 ].

Research ethics approval

Not applicable.

Data sources and searches

We selected relevant studies published between 1950 and April 20, 2022. We searched MEDLINE/PubMed, EMBASE, PsycINFO, Scopus, and Clinicaltrials.gov using the following combined text and Medical Subject Heading (MeSH) terms: “laughter”, “laughter therapy”, “humor therapy”, “cortisol”. The complete PubMed search was as follows: ("Laughter"[Mesh] OR "Laughter therapy"[Mesh]) OR ("Laughter"[Text word] OR "Laughter therapy"[Text word]) OR (Humor therapy [Text Word]). The online Table 1 shows the complete search strategies used to search each database or registry. All potentially eligible studies were considered for review, regardless of the primary outcome or language. We also conducted a manual search using references of the included articles published in English.

Study selection

Studies were eligible for inclusion if they: (1) were interventional studies, which could be either RCT or quasi-experimental studies conducted in adults, (2) compared any spontaneous laughter intervention to a controlled setting consisting of either an intervention not associated with humor (i.e. such as reading a book) or usual activities (control group), and (3) reported changes in cortisol levels (serum/plasma or salivary cortisol). Exclusion criteria were as follows: studies that evaluated laughter-inducing therapy as part of physical activity intervention given the impact of exercise itself on stress hormones [ 24 ], studies that did not report a control group, retrospective studies or observational studies, and studies that measured cortisol in unstandardized samples (i.e. breast milk and hair follicle) ( Fig 1 ). If a study reported data on more than one humorous intervention arm, we included the data that fulfilled our inclusion criteria.

Intervention investigated and outcome measurements

We evaluated any spontaneous laughter intervention, which included (i) watching a comedy movie, (ii) laughter therapy conducted by a trained laughter therapist consisting of activities that promoted laughter, and (iii) self-administered laughter therapy. The laughter intervention could be applied on only one experimental day or as intermittent therapy sessions over a continuous period of time. The primary outcome was the percentage mean difference in the change in cortisol (serum/plasma or salivary) between baseline and end of intervention between intervention and control groups. These data was calculated based on changes in cortisol in relation to baseline values. The measure of variance was extracted by either absolute values, graphical displays, or estimated according to the Cochrane handbook of systematic reviews or meta-analysis.

Data extraction and quality assessment

Two independent investigators (CKK, CBL) reviewed study titles and abstracts. Studies that satisfied the inclusion criteria were retrieved for full-text assessment. Studies selected for review by both investigators had an agreement value (k) of 97%; disagreements were resolved by further discussion between the investigators. The following data was extracted from each study: study design, total number of participants, duration of intervention, percentage mean changes in cortisol levels. The risk of bias was evaluated according to the revised Cochrane tool for assessing risk of bias in randomized trials (RoB 2) [ 25 ] and the risk of bias in non-randomized studies of interventions (ROBINS-I) tool [ 26 ]. In addition, we evaluated the quality of evidence using the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) for meta-analyses [ 27 ].

Data synthesis and analysis

We examined the impact of spontaneous laughter on cortisol levels as assessed by percentage mean change in cortisol. We calculated pooled estimates of the absolute differences between arithmetic means before and after interventions as compared to control group using a random-effects model (inverse-variance DerSimonian-Laird method). The I 2 value was used to evaluate the magnitude of heterogeneity between studies, with values greater than 50% indicating moderate-to-high heterogeneity [ 28 ]. We performed meta-regression analyses to assess whether the duration of laughter-inducing intervention impacted the stress response measured by changes in cortisol levels. In addition, we performed the following sensitivity analyses: (i) including studies that evaluated the impact of a single session of humorous intervention on cortisol levels, (ii) stratifying the studies by laughter intervention (watching comedy movie and laughter therapy), (iii) stratifying the studies by cortisol assay (salivary and serum cortisol), and (iv) including only RCTs. The possibility of publication bias was evaluated using a funnel plot of effect size against the standard error for each trial. Funnel plot asymmetry was evaluated by Begg’s and Egger’s tests, with significant publication bias defined as a P value <0.1 [ 29 ]. All analyses were performed using Stata 14.0 (Stata Corp, College Station, Texas).

Patient and public involvement

There was no patient involved in this study design and results. However, we hope that with the publication of this report, further studies and implementation of interventions to improve well-being through laughter could benefit patients.

Study characteristics

We identified 3,089 studies, of which 3,070 were excluded on the basis of title and abstract. Nineteen studies were retrieved for detailed assessment, eleven of which excluded ( Fig 1 ). Eight studies (with data from 315 participants) met our inclusion criteria; four were RCTs [ 16 , 17 , 19 , 22 ] and four were quasi-experiment studies [ 15 , 18 , 20 , 21 ] ( Table 1 ).

Included studies were published between 1989 and 2021, five studies evaluated laughter intervention as a single experiment [ 15 – 17 , 19 , 22 ] while three studies evaluated more than one laughter session over 4–6 weeks of time [ 18 , 20 , 21 ]. Patients had a mean age of 38.6 years old (ranging from 24.0 to 68.5 years), and 12.5–62.5% were male with one study conducted only in men [ 15 ] and one only in women [ 20 ]. The population evaluated in these studies included healthy individuals [ 15 , 16 , 19 , 21 , 22 ], participants living with diabetes and obesity [ 17 , 20 ], and patients on hemodialysis [ 18 ]. The humorous intervention adopted in these studies varied, with five studies evaluating the impact of watching a humor/comedy video [ 15 , 16 , 17 , 19 , 22 ], two studies evaluating laughter sessions administered by a trained laughter therapist [ 18 , 20 ], and one study evaluating a self-administered laughter program [ 21 ]. Salivary [ 17 , 19 , 21 , 22 ] and serum [ 15 , 16 , 18 , 20 ] cortisol were assessed at the same time of the day between the study arms, although the time of cortisol collection varied between the studies ( Table 1 ).

The assessment of risk of bias is shown in Fig 2 . The RCTs presented concerns in the overall assessment of bias, mainly due to deviations on the intended intervention as the laughter intervention cannot remain blinded to the participants ( Fig 2A ). In the same way, the quasi-experimental studies had moderate possibility of bias related to possible confounding effect and impossibility of blinded intervention ( Fig 2B ).The dropout rates varied from 0% to 27.5%. Although some studies informed the participants about the possibility of adverse events with the humor intervention, there were no adverse events reported.

(Panel A) Risk of bias in randomized trials (RoB 2). (Panel B) Risk of bias in non-randomized studies of interventions (ROBINS-I).

Impact of laughter on cortisol levels

Eight studies assessed the change in cortisol levels between laughter-inducing intervention and control group [ 15 – 22 ]. Pooling the data from these studies (n = 315 participants) showed a significant reduction in cortisol levels by 31.9% (95%CI -47.7% to -16.3%) induced by humorous intervention compared to control, with between-study heterogeneity (I 2 74.4%, P < 0.01) ( Fig 3A ). In this analysis, there was no evidence of publication bias on the Egger test (P = 0.66). In order to evaluate whether the duration of laughter-inducing activity (minutes) impacted the attenuation of stress response measured by reduction in cortisol levels, we performed meta-regression analyses which demonstrated no impact of the duration of spontaneous laughter on the observed reduction in cortisol ( Fig 3B ). To further assess the impact of laughter intervention on cortisol levels, we performed additional analysis including the studies that assessed a single laughter session (ranging from 9 to 60 minutes) [ 15 – 17 , 19 , 22 ]. This analysis demonstrated that even a single laughter session induced a reduction of 36.7% in cortisol (95%CI -52.5% to -20.8%) as compared to control group. In addition, analyses stratified by the type of laughter intervention (watching comedy movie and laughter therapy) demonstrated a reduction in cortisol level regardless of the strategy to induce spontaneous laughter [comedy movie: -36.7% (95%CI -52.5% to -20.8%); laughter therapy: -18.9% (95%CI -34% to -3.2%)].

(Panel A) Meta-analysis of the percentage mean difference in cortisol (%) between laughter interventions and control. CI = confidence interval. (Panel B) Bubble plot with fitted meta-regression line showing relationship between duration of laughter intervention and reduction in cortisol.

Next, sensitivity analyses were performed stratifying by the cortisol assay: (i) serum/plasma cortisol, and (ii) salivary cortisol measurements ( Fig 4 ). As compared to control group, the laughter intervention induced significant decrease in cortisol in studies evaluating serum/plasma cortisol [-22.0% (95%CI -42.3% to -1.77%)] ( Fig 4A ). This effect was even more pronounced when the stress response was assessed by changes in salivary cortisol with a 43.9% reduction in cortisol induced by laughter as compared to control (95%CI -74.1% to -13.7%) ( Fig 4B ). Finally, we repeated the analyses restricting the analysis to the four RCTs [ 16 , 17 , 19 , 22 ] which also demonstrated a significant reduction in cortisol levels promoted by laughter as compared to the placebo arm [-37.2% (95%CI -56.3% to -18.1%)]. The overall GRADE profile from these analyses is moderate/low (not free of biases) for establishing clinical recommendations based on the quality of the data available ( Table 2 ).

(Panel A) Serum cortisol, and (Panel B) Salivary cortisol. CI = confidence interval.

Our results showed that, compared to non-humorous usual activities, interventions that trigger spontaneous laughter induced a significant reduction of ~32% in cortisol levels, suggesting an impact on HPA-axis as a metabolic pathway associated with the stress-relief effect of humor. The positive impact of laughter on buffering cortisol response was already evident after one single laughter session (~37% reduction), being observed regardless of the laughter-inducing strategy (watching comedy movie and laughter therapy) or cortisol assay (salivary and serum cortisol).

Findings in the context of existing studies

Previous studies have demonstrated the potential impact of sense of humor and laughter on cardiovascular health [ 30 – 32 ]. Laughter-inducing activities such as watching a comedy movie has been associated with improvement in endothelial function assessed by brachial artery flow-mediated vasodilation and carotid arterial compliance, with effects that lasted up to 24-hours [ 30 , 31 ]. The cardioprotective effect of positive emotions was also evident in clinical studies. Specifically, in a study of 300 individuals, Clark et al showed that the propensity to laugh under a variety of situations encountered in everyday life had an inverse association with incident coronary heart disease [ 32 ]. This concept is supported by epidemiological data from Women’s Health Initiative (n = 97,253 women) [ 33 ], Nurses’ Health Study (n = 69,744) [ 34 ], and the Veterans Affairs Normative Aging Study (n = 1,429 men) [ 34 ]. These studies demonstrated that optimism, which is closely related to spontaneous laughter (i.e. frequency of laughter is associated with optimism) [ 1 – 4 ], is inversely and independently associated with both cardiovascular and total mortality, being associated with exceptional longevity [ 33 , 34 ]. Our results expand and reinforce the importance of spontaneous laughter in promoting health by demonstrating a significant and objectively-measured reduction on the hallmark adrenal stress-hormone, cortisol, induced by genuine laughter.

A reduction in cortisol levels has also been reported in response to laughter-inducing interventions in children and adolescents [ 35 – 39 ]. A previous meta-analysis of 24 studies (n = 1,612 kids) demonstrated that hospital clowns might contribute to improved psychological well-being and emotional responses in children and adolescents in hospital setting, with four studies reporting reduced levels of salivary cortisol after seeing hospital clowns visits compared with the pre-intervention measurement [ 35 ]. The implementation of humor in clinical care has been more widely established in the pediatric population possibly because the psychological motivations behind genuine laughter in adults is more complex, being influenced by the individual’s cultural background, education, beliefs, and psychological traits [ 1 – 4 , 40 ]. Once developed, however, the interpretation and perception of laughter among adults overcomes cultural and language barriers. In a study evaluating 966 participants from 24 societies, individuals reliably distinguished friends from strangers based on acoustic features of laughter with an accuracy of 53–67% [ 41 ]. These results suggest that, despite the complexity of modern social interactions and diverse cultural backgrounds, laughter is still a nonverbal vocal expression that communicates positive affect and cooperative intent in humans. In parallel to that, laughter can be socially contagious as experiencing other people’s laughter is a powerful stimulus for further laughter [ 42 ] even if the joke lacks comedic component (i.e. a bad joke) [ 43 ].

The blunted response in cortisol induced by spontaneous laughter may have other positive metabolic effects beyond the most evident relaxation and well-being. Hayashi et al, evaluating the impact of laughter induced by a comedy show in individuals with type 2 diabetes not on insulin (16 men and 3 women, age 63.4 years, body mass index 23.5 kg/m 2 , glycated hemoglobin 7.2%) as compared to a usual lecture, observed that the humorous show reduced the postprandial glucose excursion by 2.5 mmol/l [ 44 ]. Another potentially desirable metabolic effect of laughter includes the energy consumption that results from the contraction of facial and abdominal skeletal muscles (diaphragm). In a study evaluating 55 healthy individuals (age 18–34 years; mean body mass index 24.7 kg/m 2 ) using whole-room indirect calorimeter equipped with audio recording system, it was estimated that 15 minutes of genuine laughter can increase energy expenditure by approximately 40 kcal [ 45 ]. Interestingly and relevant to our results, reduced cortisol levels may help hair growth as evidenced by a recent study evaluating the underlying mechanism that modulates hair growth in response to stress. In a study published in Nature , Choi et al have uncovered a cellular and molecular mechanism that links stress hormones produced by adrenal glands to the activation of hair-follicle stem cells through the control of growth arrest-specific 6 (GAS6) expression in dermal papillae [ 46 ].

Implications

The health benefits of self-induced or simulated laughter have also been reported previously [ 47 ] with the most common modality consisting of a combination of yoga breathing techniques with induced laughter exercises, the laughter yoga . We focused this meta-analyses on genuine laughter as (i) the majority of the human humor occurs spontaneously in everyday life [ 13 ], (ii) the combination of laughter with physical activity could impact the interpretation of the cortisol response as physical activity itself can impact the secretion of adrenal hormones [ 22 ], and (iii) previous imaging studies suggest the involvement of different neural pathways in stimulated as compared to spontaneous laughter [ 3 ]. The impact on HPA axis found in our analyses suggests that genuine laughter holds positive effects for overall health as the excessive/prolonged cortisol secretion associated with chronic HPA-axis stimulation has negative implications for both physical and psychological diseases including obesity, depression, and chronic pain [ 48 , 49 ]. RCTs evaluating the long-term impact of genuine laughter are needed to establish whether activities that induce spontaneous laughter could be applied in specific clinical scenarios such as to improve metabolic health, symptoms of anxiety, and coping with chronic stressful situations.

Potential limitations of this study

A possible limitation of our meta-analyses is the heterogeneity amongst the laughter-inducing protocols as the laughter interventions included watching movies and talking to a laughter therapist for different durations of time. In addition, the studies had small samples sizes. However, this is not expected to impact our conclusions as our results were consistent across the diverse protocols and even a single session of laughter was significantly associated with a decreased cortisol response. Another limitation pertains to the inherent bias of quasi-experiment studies design that cannot be ruled out. Nonetheless, the sensitivity analyses including only RCT’s reinforce the main results. In addition, despite the concerns observed in the assessment of risk of bias ( Fig 2 ), the main aspect of concern related to the fact that laughter interventions cannot be applied in a blinded fashion. In this context, the potential impact of social interactions on HPA-axis response to laughter is another relevant aspect that could have impacted the results. Our analyses included studies with laughter intervention applied in both group and individual settings, but the degree of social interaction prior to or combined with the laughter intervention was not described. Another weakness is that the timing of cortisol sampling was inconsistent between studies and could have implications for the degree of change in cortisol induced by laughter. However, the fact that the timing of collection was not different between the study arms and that we assessed percent changes in cortisol may have helped to limit the impact of this possible confounder. Finally, pooling the data on the impact of laughter on cortisol levels in absolute units was not suitable given the diverse biochemistry measurements performed by each study.

In conclusion, our results support the ancient knowledge that spontaneous laughter is in fact good medicine (preventive or therapeutic) being associated with greater reduction in cortisol levels as compared with usual activities. These analyses demonstrated the potential therapeutic role of laughter-inducing interventions as a complementary strategy to improve everyone’s well-being and highlight the need for further research aiming to improve our collective sense of humor.

Supporting information

S1 checklist, acknowledgments.

We dedicate this manuscript to Brazil as humor represents a fundamental characteristic of the Brazilian culture. CBL receives a scholarship from Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq–PQ 1D).

Funding Statement

The author(s) received no specific funding for this work.

Data Availability

Laughter: The Best Medicine Essay

I picked the episode “Laughter: The best medicine” because I anticipated that the podcast would talk about merriment and its being an ideal therapeutic intervention. Nonetheless, it shows how powerful laughter is – to the extent that it takes control of one’s motor system. Moreover, it is interesting that animals, too, use laughter to interact with each other (Kwerel, 2020). However, their vocalization is different from that of humans, as can be heard in a variety of sounds they make.

Laughter does not necessarily occur when individuals experience a humorous episode. Instead, as Sophie notes, there are different types of laughter. Ruch et al. (2019) confirm these views and take a lexical approach to comprehend the phenomenon better. Laughter is dependent on the intensity, voluntary attempt, and feigned emotional state (Kwerel, 2020; Ruch et al., 2019). Variations in laughter have resulted in the use of morphological features. Sophie has talked about a social situation, cognitive factors, and type of stimulant as aspects that trigger laughter. Ruch et al. (2019) present three additional determinants: one’s personality, organism states, and affective states. As Sophie says, people will not necessarily laugh because what was said was funny. However, people display different types of laughter depending on causative elements.

The information presented in the podcast was interesting and informative. Moreover, the podcast was engaging, prompting me to reflect on my personal experiences with laughter. As indicated by Sophie, I have also found myself laughing for no reason, as long as my mate is doing the same. Other times, I use laughter to evade a question by shifting focus. Nonetheless, the podcast missed delineating the advantages associated with laughter. While the topic noted laughter was the best medicine, this aspect is not clear in the podcast.

Kwerel, L. (2020). Laughter: The best medicine [Audiopodcast]. NPR. Web.

Ruch, W., Wagner, L. & Hofmann, J. (2019). A lexical approach to laughter classification: Natural language distinguishes six (classes of) formal characteristics. Current Psychology . Web.

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IvyPanda. (2022, September 7). Laughter: The Best Medicine. https://ivypanda.com/essays/laughter-the-best-medicine/

"Laughter: The Best Medicine." IvyPanda , 7 Sept. 2022, ivypanda.com/essays/laughter-the-best-medicine/.

IvyPanda . (2022) 'Laughter: The Best Medicine'. 7 September.

IvyPanda . 2022. "Laughter: The Best Medicine." September 7, 2022. https://ivypanda.com/essays/laughter-the-best-medicine/.

1. IvyPanda . "Laughter: The Best Medicine." September 7, 2022. https://ivypanda.com/essays/laughter-the-best-medicine/.

Bibliography

IvyPanda . "Laughter: The Best Medicine." September 7, 2022. https://ivypanda.com/essays/laughter-the-best-medicine/.

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Hidden Brain

Laughter: the best medicine.

Shankar Vedantam

Laura Kwerel

It's a scenario many of us experienced before the COVID-19 pandemic: you're working from home, and you dial in to a conference call for the morning meeting. Everyone is cheerfully talking around the table. You can't believe what a good time everyone seems to be having, talking about nothing. Then someone starts to laugh. And then everyone's laughing. Except for you, silently listening on the phone. You're not even cracking a smile, forget about laughing. You wonder, when did this conversation become so hilarious? What am I missing?

Sophie Scott studies the neuroscience of voices, speech, and laughter at University College London. Robert Davies/Sophie Scott hide caption

Sophie Scott studies the neuroscience of voices, speech, and laughter at University College London.

But it's not you. According to neuroscientists who study laughter, it turns out that chuckles and giggles often aren't a response to humor—they're a response to people .

"Most of the laughter we produce is purely social," says neuroscientist Sophie Scott. "Laughter is a very good index of how we feel about the people that we're with."

This week, we explore the many shades of laughter, from the high-pitched giggles of rats to the chuckles of strangers, from the guffaws of Car Talk to the "uproarious laughter" indelible in the memory of Christine Blasey Ford.

Additional resources:

In the early 1990s, neuroscientist Robert Provine and colleagues conducted a study to find out what sparked laughter in conversations. Some of the "hilarious" phrases they observed included:

"I'll see you guys later." "It was nice meeting you, too." "I see your point." "Look, it's Andre!"

You can read about Provine's observational study here . And find out why rat "laughter" can prevent aggression in other rats, why laughter may be a universally-recognized human sound , and why teenage boys at risk for becoming psychopaths don't join along in the laughter of others.

• neuroscience
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• Sophie Scott
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Laughter Is The Best Medicine Essay

The best treatment for any problem we are dealing with is to always be cheerful. An upbeat day indicates positive energy all around. We have a distinct perspective on and comprehension of the people. The definition of laughter is "pleasure" or "bringing cheer to your life." Here are a few sample essays on “Laughter Is The Best Medicine”.

100 Words Essay on Laughter is the Best Medicine

The best medicine for people is laughter. The best form of rehabilitation for a person is laughter. When one laughs, their body's immunity rises, and they can better fend off other illnesses. Laughter enters a patient's body more quickly than any medication. Humour is the best therapy for those who experience despair, anxiety, etc. People join laughter clubs to make friends and laugh with them after their morning strolls in the park. This makes their bond or relationship even stronger. The doctor will also request that the patient's entire family maintain their happiness when they are in pain. We feel relieved when we laugh heartily.

200 Words Essay on Laughter is the Best Medicine

Life is full of ups and downs. We've all faced difficulties and sorrows, but we've all overcome them. The best way to deal with any discomfort is to grin. It has long been known that the best way to deal with suffering, tension, and conflict is to laugh. Here are a few reasons as to why laughter is called the best medicine.

A good chuckle is the fastest way to improve someone's mental and physical well-being.

By lightening your load and enabling you to connect with others, humour also helps you concentrate.

Consequently, laughter can transform a person's mind and physique.

Your brain functions appropriately when you are joyful, and your facial expression adjusts correspondingly.

A person's immune system performs better and is strengthened to fend off diseases when they laugh their hearts out.

Laughter aids in lowering stress hormones, engages your muscles, and boosts blood flow throughout the body.

Additionally, it shields the person from grave dangers to their lives.

So, laughter is a beautiful experience and a necessary component of the human body's work. It assists in lowering stress hormones, activating muscles, and improving blood flow throughout the body. One is also shielded from any unforeseen health issues by having healthy arteries. Therefore, laughing is an enjoyable experience and a required component of human body function.

500 Words Essay on Laughter is the Best Medicine

Laughter is the best medicine is a saying that we frequently hear from our parents, family, teachers, and fitness professionals. This is because laughter has several benefits for our mood and health. According to studies, a kindergarten youngster laughs approximately 300 times per day, compared to adults who, on average, only laugh seventeen times per day. Being goofy and laughing aloud is acceptable since you will feel incredibly joyful and delighted. This medication does wonders in the treatment of several ailments. Your physical, emotional, and general well-being will benefit from it. Many illnesses, including feelings of melancholy, fear, and anxiety, can be treated with laughter.

How Laughter Helps Us

You feel better when you laugh. And even when the laughter stops, you continue to feel good. Humour helps you maintain a bright, upbeat view through challenging circumstances, setbacks, and loss. Laughter gives you the bravery and strength to look for new meanings and sources of optimism, providing more than simply a reprieve from misery and pain. Even in the most trying circumstances, a grin or even a simple laugh can work wonders for your mood. And, indeed, laughter spreads quickly; even the sound of it can make you smile and participate in the fun.

Benefits Of Laughter

Some of the benefits of laughter can be listed as:-

Boosts immunity.

It helps in relaxing our muscles.

It helps in lowering the stress hormone.

Decreases tension as well as anxiety.

Lowers blood pressure.

It helps in fighting depression.

It also improves teamwork.

It strengthens our relationships.

Beauty Of Laughter

Nothing eases tension and a disagreement more quickly than a good chuckle. Putting things in perspective by finding the humour in them will help you move past conflicts without harbouring resentment or animosity. The act of sharing laughter with others makes people happier. Social interaction improves our mood and lessens the sense of isolation. The harm caused by stress and despair can be repaired by socialising and spreading joy. Since depression is a serious illness, it must be treated as soon as possible. Laughter can undoubtedly aid in the fight against serious illnesses like depression.

There is no harm in laughing thus, we should always take advantage of every opportunity to do so or just chuckle, even if it is for no apparent reason. Even if modern life is hectic and demanding, it is not wise to neglect our health. We all need to join laughter yoga clubs to enjoy the advantages of laughter and improve our general health, which is the true definition of wealth. It lessens daily tension and gives us energy for our daily tasks.

My Experience With Yoga Teacher

A person's mood can quickly become upbeat when they laugh, and it is difficult to be unhappy when you are laughing. My yoga teacher claims that if we consistently practise grinning, laughing, and laughing aloud for a while, we will never experience depression. Therefore, she made me realise that it serves as a treatment for depression and a preventative measure against it. She also said that humour is the sixth sense that is crucial for survival and shouldn't be undervalued at all. My teacher’s advice still echoes through my thoughts and helped me realise how important laughter is for us.

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Essay on Laughter is the Best Medicine

Students are often asked to write an essay on Laughter is the Best Medicine in their schools and colleges. And if you’re also looking for the same, we have created 100-word, 250-word, and 500-word essays on the topic.

Let’s take a look…

100 Words Essay on Laughter is the Best Medicine

Introduction.

Laughter is often called the best medicine. This phrase signifies the importance of laughter in our lives.

The Health Benefits of Laughter

Laughter is a powerful tool for improving our health. It helps us to relax, reduces stress, and even strengthens our immune system.

Laughter and Relationships

Laughter also plays a crucial role in building strong relationships. It brings people together, increases happiness, and promotes a positive atmosphere.

In conclusion, laughter is indeed the best medicine. It’s free, fun, and beneficial for everyone. So, keep laughing and enjoy its benefits!

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250 Words Essay on Laughter is the Best Medicine

The therapeutic power of laughter.

Laughter, often considered a simple expression of joy, holds a profound therapeutic potential. It is a universal language that transcends cultural and linguistic barriers, bringing people together and diffusing tension. The adage “Laughter is the best medicine” encapsulates this beautifully, emphasizing the healing power of a good chuckle.

Physical Health Benefits

Laughter offers significant physical health benefits. It triggers the release of endorphins, the body’s natural feel-good chemicals, promoting an overall sense of well-being. Furthermore, it reduces stress hormones, boosts immune function, and improves cardiovascular health by increasing heart rate and oxygen consumption.

Mental Health Impact

Beyond physical health, laughter plays a crucial role in mental health. It acts as a natural antidote to distress, anxiety, and depression. By inducing a positive emotional state, laughter can disrupt the cycle of negative thoughts, a common feature in these conditions.

Social Bonding and Communication

Laughter fosters social bonding. Shared laughter creates a sense of camaraderie and inclusivity, strengthening relationships. It also serves as a non-verbal communication tool, conveying empathy, approval, and shared understanding within social groups.

Laughter as a Coping Mechanism

In challenging situations, laughter can be an effective coping mechanism. It provides a way to express emotions without the heaviness often associated with serious conversations, allowing individuals to approach difficulties with a lighter heart.

In conclusion, laughter is indeed the best medicine. Its therapeutic potential in enhancing physical health, mental well-being, social interaction, and coping abilities is immense. The next time you find yourself in a stressful situation, remember to laugh. It might just be the best prescription for health and happiness.

500 Words Essay on Laughter is the Best Medicine

Laughter is a universal language that transcends borders, cultures, and social strata. It is a spontaneous expression of joy, amusement, and happiness. Over time, the phrase “laughter is the best medicine” has become a common adage, reinforcing the belief that laughter can bring about positive physical and emotional changes. In this essay, we delve into the science behind this phrase and explore how laughter can indeed be a potent remedy.

The Science of Laughter

When we laugh, our body undergoes a series of physiological changes. The heart rate increases, oxygen consumption rises, and there is a surge in endorphins – the body’s natural painkillers and mood elevators. Laughter also decreases the levels of cortisol and adrenaline, the stress hormones, in the body. The release of endorphins combined with the reduction in stress hormones creates a feeling of happiness and relaxation.

Laughter and Physical Health

Laughter has been linked to a plethora of physical health benefits. It aids in relaxation and stress reduction, which in turn can lower blood pressure, improve cardiovascular health, and boost the immune system. Laughter can also act as a natural painkiller, reducing the perception of physical discomfort. These benefits can contribute to overall physical well-being and longevity.

Laughter and Mental Health

The benefits of laughter extend beyond physical health to mental health as well. Laughter can act as a natural anti-depressant, improving mood and reducing symptoms of anxiety and depression. It helps in releasing pent-up emotions, thus acting as a cathartic release. Laughter also enhances resilience, helping individuals to bounce back from stressful or adverse situations.

Laughter as a Social Bonding Tool

Laughter is a powerful social bonding tool. Shared laughter fosters a sense of camaraderie and helps in building and strengthening relationships. It breaks down social barriers, diffuses tension, and promotes a sense of unity and cooperation. In essence, laughter can contribute to improved social interactions and a stronger sense of community.

In conclusion, laughter is more than just a spontaneous response to humor. It is a powerful medicine with far-reaching implications for our physical, mental, and social health. While it may not replace traditional medicine, it certainly complements it, offering a host of benefits without any side effects. So, the next time you find yourself in a stressful situation or feeling down, remember the power of laughter. After all, it truly is the best medicine.

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• Laughter is a Best Medicine Essay

Essay on Laughter is a Best Medicine

The essay on Laughter is the Best Medicine has been prepared by our experts at Vedantu to help you guide with your essay on Laughter is the Best Medicine. These are drafted in a very easy and effective way to make you understand and require the same in the essay writing an exam or in any of the competitions based on essay writing. We also have provided you with a PDF for downloading this essay. 

Keeping in mind the divine comedy, the great comedian actor Milton Berle said,” Laughter is an instant holiday!” These lines of the legendary actors state the significance of laughing in one’s life. Human life is full of stress and happiness. In such a living, the humour of a few moments makes you feel humorous for a long time. There are much more sad moments in life rather than happiness. The person may be so overwhelmed by the burden of sorrow that he will not even be able to enjoy the availability of pleasure from life. In these worst scenarios, the gift of Laughter makes one bearable. Laughter is the Best communicative milestone in human’s development and starts evolving from a baby's giggle. It can be used as an emotional release mechanism and supports one to be popular. Laughter is one of the most important gifts God gives to the human being. Where there is stress there is humour. Humour makes the brain brilliant, the mind fresh, boosts energy inside the body and keeps the body system fine. But, some jokes are simple ones but some are based on a person's satire. Even if listeners laugh at it, it should not be considered as a good joke. 

Have you ever thought that Laughter can assist curing disease? Therapeutic humour uses the power of smile and Laughter to aid healing. Doctors commonly use it in patients with chronic diseases, particularly which are made worse by stress. Laughter is key to boost immunity power in the human body. Laughter has a tendency to help burn calories from the human body. The studies even stated that laughing for approximately 15 minutes a day will help to burn 40 calories. In India, Laughter yoga is a contemporary technique developed that leads to Laughter clubs starting their days with Laughter yoga with veterans. Laughter brings distraction from negative emotions such as depression, anger, stress, guilt and all others more effectively than the other means of distractions. In short, Laughter helps us to create a frame of mind in which we can more effectively cope with the struggle of life. If life is a meal, humour completes it like salt. And a person, who can make others laugh, must be said to have divine power. A smiling person always provides positive vibes to others. Laughter helps in increasing social connections with a huge crowd. It brings us closer to the other people as there is holiness in it. The life span is extended with laughing people.

Humor makes the human’s personality a beast one.  A person with a humorous nature is more adorable comparatively. Children are more cheerful than youngsters since a child laughs 100 times a day while a youngster hardly laughs 10 times. Laughter is the most important factor which distinguishes one personality from the other. With lots of benefits, Laughter spreads amongst people with no side effects. Addition of Laughter in life subtracts other negative emotions from life.

As quoted by Charles Dickens in his book- Christmas Carol, “There is nothing in the world so irresistibly contagious as Laughter and good humor.”

One of the greatest feelings in the world that  brings great happiness to life and truly exhibits zeal is Laughter. It's really one of the Best Medicines in the world. Whether it's a smile or a little giggle, Laughter completely changes the mood and lightens up the environment. In addition, you will feel better and everyone around you will feel a positive vibe. Nowadays, everyone is leading a monotonous life and depression has become quite common. If one decides to take a break every once in a while to focus on themselves by doing what they like and being around people who make them laugh and enjoy, a lot of mental sickness can be decreased to some extent as Laughter is known to be an effective countermeasure against pain, stress and conflict. Nothing works as fast as a laugh to rebalance your body and mind. Humor also eases your burden, connects you to others, and keeps you focused. Therefore, Laughter has tremendous power to renew and heal the body and mind. That is why it is advised to surround yourself with people who give out positive energy, are fun and lively to be around, making others laugh and things do not seem dull around them. Sharing good laugh and humor with your loved ones or people in general eases and improves your relationship with them. 

It is not wrong to say that Laughter is far superior to antidepressants that help you recover quickly. By laughing and staying happy, rather than thinking about the past and feeling depressed, you can easily relieve stress and physical tension to a good extent, as they say time heals everything. When Laughter becomes a part of everyday life, the muscles of the body are completely relaxed and the immune system gradually improves as well. It also helps in infection fighting antibodies which improves your body’s resistance towards major disease hence enhancing the body's immunity system. Serotonin is a neurotransmitter that influences your mood and feeling of happiness in you. Therefore, it is important to take the time for yourself and laugh for at least 45 minutes to strengthen your inner self and increase your well-being hormones. Keep this practice and be with people who genuinely make you happy. 

Humor and Laughter is very much needed as it boosts your energy and diminishes pain to keep a person sane in this busy world. So, Keep laughing as it is priceless, affordable, free and easy to use. 

FAQs on Laughter is a Best Medicine Essay

1. What are the mental health benefits of Laughter? 

A good hearty laugh can relieve you from a lot of stress, sadness, disappointments and physical pain. Serotonin is a neurotransmitter that influences your mood and feeling of happiness in you. By laughing and staying happy, rather than thinking about the past and feeling depressed, you can easily relieve stress and physical tension to a good extent, as they say time heals everything. 

2. Why is Laughter necessary at the workplace? 

Given as per the research, seriousness and stress at work place is a lot because of the competition and work completion. Laughter at the workplace is not just good but is also necessary to lighten up the mood and tension in the environment. Chill environment means more productivity. 

3. Explain the Psychology behind Laughter.

Laughing or sharing a good humor with someone is a sign of acceptance and being liked by the other person. It shows that their presence as well as your presence is bringing about positivity and liveliness. It shows positive interaction with everyone. This reduces stress and improves your morale as well. 

4. List a few benefits of laughing regularly. 

Few major benefits are- 

Our brain releases tiny eurochemicals in the form of endorphins which enhances one’s mood.

Laughter is a good workout as it improves your cardiovascular health. 

It helps in lowering your blood pressure

It reduces a lot of stress hormones present in your body 

5. What is the daily laughing exercise? 

It is said that laughing daily for about 45 mins strengthens your inner self and increases your well-being hormones. It is a simple exercise to lighten up the mood or atleast to relax. 

6. Why Laughter is Important in Our Lives?

Laughter is a good thing. Scientists tell us that laughter, humour and joy are an important part of life. Laughing lowers blood pressure, reduces stress hormones, and increases muscle flexion. It enhances the motion of antibodies in the bloodstream and makes us more impenetrable to infection.

7. Why Laughter is The Best Medicine?

A Good hearty laugh relieves physical tension and stress leaving your muscles relaxed for up to 45 minutes after. Laughter reduces the stress hormones and enhances immune cells and infection-fighting immunizers, thus developing your resistance power against diseases.

8. Who Said Laughter is the Best Medicine?

In the 1300s, Henri de Mondeville, a professor of surgery, propagated post-operative therapy with humour. Norman Cousins, a journalist and a professor, also started off this trend when he developed his own “therapy,” based on mood rise through laughter.

9. Can You Burn Calories by Laughing?

Using the results, the scientists then went on to calculate that just 15 minutes of laughter a day will burn 10 to 40 calories, depending on a person's weight and the intensity of the laughter. That's quite sufficient to shift between 1 and 4lb a year.

English Compositions

Short Essay on Laughter Is the Best Medicine [100, 200, 400 Words] With PDF

In this lesson, dear students, you will learn to write a proverbial essay on the popular dictum “Laughter is the Best Medicine” in three different sets of 100 words, 200 words and 400 words. It will help you prepare for your upcoming examinations and enhance your creative skills at the same time.

Short Essay on Laughter Is the Best Medicine in 100 Words 

Laughter is an outpour of an extreme emotion that is packed with humour. It is a great cure for people suffering from depression and anxiety. It motivates and inspires people to come out of their comfort zone. It has healing powers, and it acts as a backbone in times of adversity.

Laughter disperses tension in such a way that one forgets the stress of monotonous living in its process. It also helps in creating and maintaining public relations.  It should be practised every day like meditation and silence. Laughter offers a fresh outlook on current scenarios and brings up new ideas to resolve issues. It brings in a positive perspective and creates room for optimism.

Short Essay on Laughter Is the Best Medicine in 200  Words 

Laughter disperses tension in such a way that one forgets the stress of monotonous living in its process. It also helps in creating and maintaining public relations. The incorporation of humour in literature helps the reader make their way through the text earnestly. In that manner, laughter acts as academic medicine.

A great example of a story with laughter acting as a medicine against the hardships and pain of war is “The Best Christmas Present in the World” by  Michael Morpurgo. In this story, the soldiers of two countries at war spend their Christmas together at the no man’s land. They sing together, play a match and create merriment.

We learn that laughter can create peace and bring confidence in times of distress and torment. It should be practised every day like meditation and silence. Laughter offers a fresh outlook on current scenarios and brings up new ideas to resolve issues. It brings in a positive perspective and creates room for positive vibes.

Short Essay on Laughter Is the Best Medicine in 400 Words

Laughter is an outpour of an extreme emotion that is mostly hysterical and packed with humour. It is different from a mere smile or giggle. It helps in cheering up. It is a more collective form of gesture. It emerges when we are unable to control our emotions. It relieves tension and is a great cure for people suffering from depression and anxiety. It also motivates and inspires people to come out of their comfort zone. It has healing powers, and it acts as a backbone in times of adversity. It uplifts the spirit of man and brings them a sense of optimism.

 Laughter is in absolute contrast with emotions like sorrow and anger. The latter form a seedling of pessimism in one’s chain of thoughts and leads one in making bad decisions. Laughter disperses tension in such a way that one forgets the stress of monotonous living in its process. It also helps in creating and maintaining public relations.

The incorporation of humour in literature helps the reader make way through the text earnestly. In that manner, laughter acts as an intellectual medicine. A great example of a story with laughter acting as a medicine against the hardships and pain of war is “The Best Christmas Present in the World” by Michael Morpurgo.

In this story, the soldiers of two countries at war spend their Christmas together at the no man’s land. They sing together, play a match and create merriment. We learn that laughter can create peace and bring confidence in times of distress and torment. 

These days, people use emoticons to convey their thoughts and emotions. There are eight types of laughter emoticons readily used by people to convey their emotions to the receiver. Laughter has also been taken up at an artistic level today. Just as Shakespeare had introduced the role of ‘Fool’ in his tragedies and comedies, we have artists who perform stand-up in front of a great audience to make them laugh.

It has become a necessity today because people are so caught up in the haywire of making a living that they often forget to relish life and have a good laugh out of it. It should be practised every day like meditation and silence. Laughter offers a fresh outlook on current scenarios and brings up new ideas to resolve issues. It brings in a positive perspective and creates room for positive vibes.

Dear students, hopefully, after this lesson, you have a holistic idea of writing an essay on “Laughter is the Best Medicine”. I have tried to be as descriptive as possible in the given word limit.

I have shown the uses of laughter and made it relatable for you with examples from literature. If you still have any doubts regarding this session, kindly let me know through the comment section below. To read more such essays on many important topics, keep browsing our website. 

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Stress relief from laughter? It's no joke

When it comes to relieving stress, more giggles and guffaws are just what the doctor ordered. Here's why.

Whether you're guffawing at a sitcom on TV or quietly giggling at a newspaper cartoon, laughing does you good. Laughter is a great form of stress relief, and that's no joke.

Stress relief from laughter

A good sense of humor can't cure all ailments, but data is mounting about the positive things laughter can do.

Short-term benefits

A good laugh has great short-term effects. When you start to laugh, it doesn't just lighten your load mentally, it actually induces physical changes in your body. Laughter can:

• Stimulate many organs. Laughter enhances your intake of oxygen-rich air, stimulates your heart, lungs and muscles, and increases the endorphins that are released by your brain.
• Activate and relieve your stress response. A rollicking laugh fires up and then cools down your stress response, and it can increase and then decrease your heart rate and blood pressure. The result? A good, relaxed feeling.
• Soothe tension. Laughter can also stimulate circulation and aid muscle relaxation, both of which can help reduce some of the physical symptoms of stress.

Long-term effects

Laughter isn't just a quick pick-me-up, though. It's also good for you over the long term. Laughter may:

• Improve your immune system. Negative thoughts manifest into chemical reactions that can affect your body by bringing more stress into your system and decreasing your immunity. By contrast, positive thoughts can actually release neuropeptides that help fight stress and potentially more-serious illnesses.
• Relieve pain. Laughter may ease pain by causing the body to produce its own natural painkillers.
• Increase personal satisfaction. Laughter can also make it easier to cope with difficult situations. It also helps you connect with other people.
• Improve your mood. Many people experience depression, sometimes due to chronic illnesses. Laughter can help lessen your stress, depression and anxiety and may make you feel happier. It can also improve your self-esteem.

Improve your sense of humor

Are you afraid that you have an underdeveloped — or nonexistent — sense of humor? No problem. Humor can be learned. In fact, developing or refining your sense of humor may be easier than you think.

• Put humor on your horizon. Find a few simple items, such as photos, greeting cards or comic strips, that make you chuckle. Then hang them up at home or in your office, or collect them in a file or notebook. Keep funny movies, TV shows, books, magazines or comedy videos on hand for when you need an added humor boost. Look online at joke websites or silly videos. Listen to humorous podcasts. Go to a comedy club.

Laugh and the world laughs with you. Find a way to laugh about your own situations and watch your stress begin to fade away. Even if it feels forced at first, practice laughing. It does your body good.

Consider trying laughter yoga. In laughter yoga, people practice laughter as a group. Laughter is forced at first, but it can soon turn into spontaneous laughter.

• Share a laugh. Make it a habit to spend time with friends who make you laugh. And then return the favor by sharing funny stories or jokes with those around you.
• Knock, knock. Browse through your local bookstore or library's selection of joke books and add a few jokes to your list that you can share with friends.
• Know what isn't funny. Don't laugh at the expense of others. Some forms of humor aren't appropriate. Use your best judgment to discern a good joke from a bad or hurtful one.

Laughter is the best medicine

Go ahead and give it a try. Turn the corners of your mouth up into a smile and then give a laugh, even if it feels a little forced. Once you've had your chuckle, take stock of how you're feeling. Are your muscles a little less tense? Do you feel more relaxed or buoyant? That's the natural wonder of laughing at work.

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• Lower stress: How does it affect the body? American Heart Association. https://www.heart.org/en/healthy-living/healthy-lifestyle/stress-management/lower-stress-how-does-stress-affect-the-body. Accessed March 30, 2021.
• Create joy and satisfaction. Mental Health America. http://www.mentalhealthamerica.net/create-joy-and-satisfaction. Accessed March 30, 2021.
• Savage BM, et al. Humor, laughter, learning, and health! A brief review. Advances in Physiology Education. 2017; doi:10.1152/advan.00030.2017.
• Yim J. Therapeutic benefits of laughter in mental health: A theoretical review. The Tohoku Journal of Experimental Medicine. 2019; doi:10.1620/tjem.239.243.
• Lopes-Junior LC, et al. Effectiveness of hospital clowns for symptom management in paediatrics: Systematic review of randomized and non-randomised controlled trials. BMJ. 2020; doi:10.1136/bmj.m4290.
• Seaward BL. Comic relief: The healing power of humor. In: Essentials of Managing Stress. 5th ed. Jones & Bartlett Learning; 2021.
• Van der Wal CN, et al. Laughter-inducing therapies: Systematic review and meta-analysis. Social Science & Medicine. 2019; doi:10.1016/j.socscimed.2019.02.018.
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Essay on Laughter is the Best Medicine for Children and Students

Table of Contents

‘Laughter is the best medicine’ the phrase says it all. When you laugh you recover faster from several ailments and enjoy a healthy life. Laughter may not completely cure you but it will definitely help to improve your health faster as it will keep your mind and heart cheerful.

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Long and Short Essay on Laughter is the Best Medicine in English

Here are essays on Laughter is the Best Medicine of varying lengths to help you with the topic in your exam. You can select any Rainy Day essay as per your need:

Laughter is the Best Medicine Essay 1 (200 Words)

‘Laughter is the best medicine’ because when you laugh you get healed. Most of your stress, anger and pain get relieved when you laugh. A good laugh will heal your mind, body and soul. It will keep you calm and composed. It’s a supplement to balance your physical and emotional health.

The ability to laugh frequently is a wonderful resource to overcome most of your problems and enrich relations. A hearty laugh eases your stress and physical tension. It improves the function of blood and increases the flow of blood in your body. This will help protect against heart attack and many other diseases. Laughter also helps increase your energy level that would keep you charged throughout. Humour helps build positive attitude towards various situations in life and reduces negativity. Negative attitude and energy will have negative effect on your life and health while positive attitude will affect your health and life positively. Optimistic attitude is also very important to stay focused and to develop positive relationships. Sharing joy and happiness will always increase your delight.

Thus one should always maintain positive attitude in life and keep laughing. You will spread joy and happiness around you as that is the way you will feel from within. So stay happy and spread happiness.

Laughter is the Best Medicine Essay 2 (300 Words)

Introduction

The proverb ‘Laughter is the best medicine’ means laughter is the best way to get cured emotionally and physically. It is a natural medicine to recover faster.

Laughter Yoga

Laughter yoga is a mind-body exercise gaining ground all over the world as a reliable therapy for depression, stress and anxiety. Laughter yoga is being promoted all over the world. People come together and participate in performing forced laughter with simple breathing and yoga techniques. In Yoga it is believed that you don’t need reason to laugh. You can simply practice laughing to gain its benefits. When you attend such a laughter therapy session even as a viewer it causes you to laugh. The exercise in itself is so much fun; one can’t stop laughing watching funny faces. You gain positive energy and perspective from such laugh therapies. It is a great social activity and there are no barriers.

There are several people who benefit and recover from laughing therapies. It completely rejuvenates your mood. It is the kind of exercise that improves our overall health. It has its positive effect on mind and body as well. It helps us relax our muscles and prevent the release of stress hormones. Laughing exercises also initiate the release of endorphins which makes you feel good and relieves pain. It works wonders in reducing stress, anxiety and depression. It gives a boost to your immunity making you feel more energetic. It is also a group activity and will help develop your social connections and reduce the feeling of dejection.

Conclusion :

Life is hectic and stressful these days but ignoring our health is not sensible. Health is actually true wealth and to improve overall health and enjoy the benefits of laughter we all must join laughter yoga clubs. It reduces the day to day stress and energizes us for the daily chores.

Laughter is the Best Medicine 3 (400 words)

‘Laughter is the best medicine’ states that laughter can have several health benefits on your physical and mental health. It is a powerful tool to combat several maladies. It is also helpful in developing strong bonds and relations.

Simple Ways to Add More Laughter in Everyday Life

• Read and Share Jokes: We should read more jokes whether it is in comic books, newspapers or online. We should also share jokes with others and laugh even more.
• Make it a Habit: Like we follow our healthy diet, beauty sleep, and workout regime it is important to add more and more laughter in our daily routine as a habit.
• Have Funny Friends: We should always try and make more friends with good sense of humour. Hanging out and spending more time with friends who cheer us up with their wit and spread positive vibes around us is vital.
• Watch Funny Movies and Shows: Watching funny shows and movies lifts our mood up and makes us laugh out loud throughout.
• Play with Kids: Kids laugh heartily and spread laughter all around them and they just don’t need a reason to laugh. Nothing is more refreshing than a kid’s laughter.
• Laugh at Yourself: Most of the time we are reluctant to laugh at ourselves as we are self-aware and don’t want people to make fun of us. But learning to laugh at one self is the ability to accept our own flaws which is quiet healthy.
• Have a Pet: It’s so much fun to play around with dogs and cats, or any pet one likes. The pets around us never let us feel lonely and are so lovable and cheery.
• Laughter Yoga: Laughter yoga is the best way to add laughter to your daily routine. Joining a yoga club or practicing yoga at home is a superb way to add extra dose of laughter in life.
• Share Laughter: We can always share laughter with family members, friends and relatives by getting involved in funny conversations and fun activities. It’s also important to develop a habit to greet people with a big smile.
• Extra Activities: If we have hobbies such as dancing, singing or playing games, we must spare time for these activities regularly. As doing something that we really enjoy also makes us feel happy.

Life gives us many reasons to smile and laugh every day. Let us not miss any reason. Let us share the natural medicine of laughter with everyone around us.

Laughter is the Best Medicine Essay 4 (500 Words)

We often hear the phrase ‘Laughter is the best medicine’ from our parents, relatives, fitness instructors and teachers. That is because laughter is an expression that actually has several positive effects on our mood and health. Studies have shown that a Kinder Garten child laughs around three hundred times a day while adults merely laugh on an average around seventeen times a day. It is okay to be silly and laugh out loud as it is going to make you feel very happy and delighted as a result. This medicine really works wonders to cure several types of illnesses. It is healthy for your physical, emotional and overall well-being. Laughter is the medicine for many ailments, feeling of depression, fear and anxiety.

Laughter Helps Fight Depression

In today’s world, there are several people suffering from depression. Depression is the illness that affects you physically and emotionally in a number of ways – lack of interest in family, friends and fun; state of mind in which you just isolate yourself. We see a lot of people around us who are always sad and depressed. It is very difficult for them to laugh. Being depressed and sad all the time is the mindset which develops and becomes habitual over a period of time. Of course one needs to consult a doctor but the laughter therapy with it will always help cure faster.

Also those who have suffered strokes in the primal brain region have to undertake prolonged sessions of laughter as it has vital role to play. Laughing is the therapy that heals us mentally as well as physically. While we laugh endorphins and other stress releasing hormones are released that make us feel happy, it also results in boosting immunity and relieving pain naturally. It helps in relaxing muscles and releasing stress. Laughter is powerful coping method and a natural antidote for anxiety, stress and depression. Laughing is associated with greater resistance and ability to deal with strain. It influences you to see a world from a positive perspective.

Laughing can instantly change the mood of a person in to a cheerful one and it is difficult to feel negative emotions while you laugh. My Yoga instructor says that if we practice smiling, laughing and laughing out loud, every-day for some time then we will never feel depressed. So not only is it the medicine to fight depression and stress but also to prevent depression. The sixth sense which is really very important for living is sense of humour, which should not be underestimated at all.

Laughing is usually a group activity and sharing joy increases happiness. It enhances our mood through social connection and decreases the feeling of loneliness. Socializing and sharing happiness will help repair the damage caused due to stress and depression.

Depression is serious illness and needs to be cured at the earliest stage. Laughing can definitely help to combat serious illness like depression. There is no loss in laughing and we should never miss any chance to laugh or simply laugh without any reason.

Laughter is the Best Medicine 5 (600 Words)

Laughter is the best medicine. It is the best feeling in the world. It brings so much of cheer to life. Whether it is a smile, a slight giggle or a loud laughter it completely alters the mood and atmosphere. Not only does it makes you feel good but everyone around you will catch those positive vibes from you.

Here are some important benefits of laughing:

• Lowers the Blood Pressure

Reduces Stress Hormones

Improves Cardiovascular Health

• Boosts T-cells
• Releases the Endorphins
• Over all Well Being

Abs Workout

• Happiness is spreadable
• Laughter increases positivity

Lowers Blood Pressure

Yes the simple medicine to reduce your blood pressure is laughter with no side effects and lots of positive effects on your overall well-being. Thus to control blood pressure it is vital to have the daily dose of laughter as many times as possible.

Laughter also helps in reducing stress hormone levels which will ultimately reduce the stress and anxiety that will negatively impact your body. Stress reduction will also result in higher immune performance.

Laughing is a good cardio workout. Especially those who are inactive can at least laugh several times a day. One will also burn some amount of calories and remain heartily healthy. Laughter is also the exercise in which you inhale oxygen which will enhance blood flow and stimulate heart.

Laughter is the Natural Beauty Treatment

It is a kind of face work out, it relaxes the face muscles and tissues. The more you laugh the more toned and glowing your face appears. It also adds spark to your eyes which makes you look even more beautiful.

Boost T-cells

T-cells get activated when you laugh; these are the special immune system cells waiting for activation in your body. Activation of T-cells help you fight off illnesses.

Release the Endorphins

Endorphins are the tiny neurochemicals released by your body that acts as pain reliever. When you laugh you release endorphins that can help reduce pain and enhance your mood.

Overall Well-being

Practicing laughter everyday will heal you faster. It is a well- known fact that people who have positive attitude towards life fight diseases better than those who always have negative outlook towards life.-

Laughing will also help you tone down your abs as when you laugh the muscles in your stomach move the similar way when you work out your abs. It is an internal exercise.

Laughter is a great way to fight depression. Being depressed and unhappy becomes a regular pattern if we don’t try to come out of it. It reduces the influence of negativity in life.

Happiness is Spreadable

It cheers you up when you see someone smile at you; smile is your immediate response. And it always feels great to be around people with good sense of humour. The feeling of shared happiness will always boost your pleasure and smiles.

Laughter Increases Positivity

Laughter increases your ability to view situations with a positive perspective. It strengthens your ability to accept failures and hardships of life. It becomes easy for you to cope with the hardships of life.

Thus to always have smile and laughter on you face is the best way to live a healthy life. Don’t take your life so seriously that you forget to laugh. Celebrate every single occasion and achievement in life. Be optimistic and never lose hope in life. Never have a single day without laughter as life without laughter would be so boring and dull.

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Drugs, Sacraments or Medicine? Psychedelic Churches Blur the Line.

Organizations that describe themselves as churches are providing psychedelics to followers. The compounds, which show promise as treatments for depression, are illegal in most settings.

Participants in a psychedelic retreat in Austin, Texas, held up cups of hot chocolate mixed with several grams of psilocybin mushroom before drinking them. Credit...

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By Ernesto Londoño

Photographs by Meridith Kohut

Ernesto Londoño spent a year reporting on the use of psychedelics in medical and spiritual settings for the book “Trippy: the Peril and Promise of Medicinal Psychedelics.” This article draws on reporting for the book.

• May 12, 2024

Facing the latest participants attending her four-day psychedelic retreat, Whitney Lasseter made a bold claim: The ceremonies they would take part in were sanctioned by federal law, which sets a high bar for the government to interfere in religious practices.

“We are using these medicines to connect with the divine,” said Ms. Lasseter, the founder of All Tribes Medicine Assembly, one of dozens of organizations that describe themselves as churches and view their use of psychoactive substances as sacramental, even though they are generally illegal under federal law. “It’s your right to practice your religion however you are guided.”

Eight guests seated in a circle in a suburban Austin, Texas, living room nodded, some looking apprehensive, as Ms. Lasseter outlined the sequence of body-jolting, mind-altering rituals ahead.

First, there would be a detoxification protocol in which poisonous secretions of a frog from the Amazon are dabbed on tiny burn marks on a person’s skin, often inducing nausea and projectile vomiting.

Later, they would take a potent dose of psilocybin mushrooms, then smoke toxins from the Sonoran Desert toad , which brings on a brief altered state in which people often flail about, scream and sob. When it is done, many describe a feeling of bliss.

As psychedelics show promise as treatments for depression, trauma and addiction, they are increasingly being offered at retreats that blend spirituality with alternative medicine by people who assert that their dispensing of such compounds is protected under religious freedom laws. There is no official count of psychedelic churches, but an association of them, established two years ago, says it has more than 60 groups in North America.

Two churches, in New Mexico and Oregon , sued the Drug Enforcement Administration in the 2000s, winning the right to import and serve ayahuasca, a psychoactive Amazonian brew. The ruling set a legal precedent at the intersection of religion and drug policy, but as new organizations have emerged rapidly in recent years, the courts are grappling again to determine what constitutes a church.

The growing field includes a wide range: retreat businesses, operations that sell psychoactive drugs online and congregations that hold worship services regularly in keeping with longstanding traditions.

For now, law enforcement officials have shown little interest in cracking down on these groups, most of which are subject to little state or federal regulation. But experts say they worry that as such operations rise in visibility, especially among people seeking help with mental health issues, many lack the oversight and scientific rigor needed to safely administer psychedelics.

“There is going to be a disaster down the road,” said Anthony Coulson, a former D.E.A. agent who now works as a consultant for medical companies that hope to bring psychedelics into clinical settings. “There’s no doubt in my mind there’s going to be a reckoning.”

Shifting Landscape

Evidence suggests that ancient societies used mind-altering drugs ritualistically long before a British psychiatrist coined the term psychedelics in the 1950s, when scientists were studying whether compounds like L.S.D. could improve psychotherapy and help patients overcome alcoholism.

In the 1970s, the Nixon administration’s war on drugs ended that research as psychedelics were added to the government’s most restricted category of illegal drugs. Narrow exceptions were made in the decades that followed. In 1981, the Department of Justice sanctioned the use of peyote, a psychoactive cactus, in Native American Church rituals.

Members of that church sued an Oregon state agency after losing their jobs for using peyote, which remained banned under state law. The case, which reached the Supreme Court , led Congress in 1993 to pass the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, establishing that the government could restrict religious practices only to advance a “compelling governmental interest,” and even then, the “least restrictive means” were required.

That standard was tested when the churches in New Mexico and Oregon successfully sued the D.E.A., bolstering the case for the sacramental use of psychedelics.

Major universities and the federal government are spending millions of dollars researching the medicinal value of psychedelics, which scientists say disrupt routine brain function in therapeutic ways.

For some, psychedelics can be more destabilizing than healing and can, in rare cases, induce psychosis , mental health experts say. No government agency closely tracks adverse experiences with psychedelics in unregulated settings.

Oregon and Colorado recently passed measures allowing the therapeutic use of psychedelics. But for now, the drugs remain largely unavailable for patients in regulated settings because they are illegal under federal law, leaving people who seek them turning to groups that claim religious exemptions.

That worries officials, who say more research is needed.

“Though the early data are promising, the safety and efficacy of psychedelic treatments for mental illnesses have not been established,” said Dr. Joshua A. Gordon, the director of the National Institute of Mental Health. “Psychedelics should therefore not be used for treatment outside of clinical trials.”

Law enforcement officials, too, have expressed concern that some groups are actually drug retailers or profit-making retreat businesses using religious grounds to skirt drug laws. The Internal Revenue Service has issued guidelines on the criteria religious groups must meet to get tax benefits, but Congress and the courts have not established clear guidance on what constitutes a legitimate church.

Last year, Detroit police raided a group called Soul Tribes International Ministries after city officials concluded it was operating as an “Uber Eats” for narcotics. Its founder, who says his work is protected under religious freedom laws, has not been charged with a crime connected to the raid.

Other groups have gone on the offensive, suing federal agencies for permission to import and provide psychedelics. The Church of the Eagle and the Condor, in Phoenix, reached a legal settlement with the Department of Justice last month, allowing it to do so.

A D.E.A. spokeswoman did not respond to a request for an interview. Mr. Coulson, the former D.E.A. agent, said counternarcotics officials have not focused on psychedelic churches partly because they are overwhelmed with a flood of opioids.

“The D.E.A. does not want to be in a position of deciding what a sincere religion is,” he said.

Inside a Retreat

Ms. Lasseter, 44, founded All Tribes Medicine Assembly in Austin two years ago. Her guiding belief, she said, is that psychedelics can unlock people’s innate healing potential and give them a direct connection to God or the divine.

Psychedelics had first helped Ms. Lasseter, who had struggled with addiction to crack cocaine and alcohol, when she was in her late 30s, she said. Reeling after a breakup, she smoked Bufo, the psychedelic derived from the Sonoran desert toad . It left her with clarity about her past and future, Ms. Lasseter recalled, seeming to wipe clear years of pain and self-loathing.

“It showed me how everything in my life was perfectly placed at the right moment at the right time for a purpose,” she said.

Ms. Lasseter and many others who administer psychedelics in spiritual settings say they help numerous people who are suffering and have seen a vast majority of them walk away from retreats or ceremonies feeling better.

Still, even some intimately familiar with the field have misgivings.

The Rev. Joe Welker, who leads a Presbyterian congregation in Vermont, spent years taking psychedelics in spiritual communities and credited those experiences with deepening his understanding of theology. But about three years ago, he said he grew wary about the blending of spirituality and psychedelics as he saw people who emerged from such settings more destabilized than healed. He said he also saw cultlike behavior take root in some communities.

“The risks are understudied,” he said. And instances of harm often get swept under the rug, he added.

Ms. Lasseter, who was ordained as a minister through an online organization, said that she is well aware of the risks of her work. She said she engages a nurse to screen retreat applicants for psychiatric disorders that can be exacerbated by psychedelics, such as schizophrenia, and has participants sign waivers.

Since 2022, Ms. Lasseter has hosted dozens of workshops, ceremonies and a biweekly worship service where, she said, “we celebrate being alive.”

But her highest priority is the church’s therapeutic retreats, which cost $4,444 a person and are held every few months. Ms. Lasseter said her church is just breaking even financially.

Attendees struggling with depression, trauma and addiction, the church’s website says, can expect to walk away with “a new lease on life.”

During psilocybin and Bufo ceremonies at a recent retreat, Ms. Lasseter remained calm as participants displayed a jarring range of emotions. Some sobbed. Some laughed hysterically. At times, bouts of giggles gave way to tears.

There were guttural screams, growling and drooling. Often, Ms. Lasseter held a participant in a tight embrace until a moment of tension passed. The key, she said, was to create a safe and supportive environment in which people could process repressed emotions and see clearly what it would take to lead a healthier life.

One participant on this day was Mekenzi Falslev, a mother of two from Utah who was raised in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. She said she had been in deep distress when she met Ms. Lasseter last year.

“I remember praying and thinking, ‘This is it,’” Ms. Falslev, 33, said. “I have done everything I can do. What can God give me?”

Another participant, John Verhelst, 57, said he had come from his home in New Braunfels, Texas, hoping for a chance to reclaim his religious faith after hearing from a colleague who had smoked Bufo with Ms. Lasseter.

Then there was Sean Carnell, a former Marine from Massachusetts, who became interested in psychedelics after listening to accounts of transformation on a popular podcast hosted by a former Navy SEAL.

Mr. Carnell, 44, said he came to the retreat hoping to tend to wounds that began in childhood, when he said he was sexually abused, then compounded after the suicide of his best friend, a fellow Marine.

He found little reprieve in the psychiatric drugs he got from the Department of Veterans Affairs, he said. “I felt like a zombie. I didn’t feel alive.”

Much of the time guests spent at the retreat near Austin did not involve psychedelic compounds. Members of the group began their days going on early morning walks and praying together while watching the sunrise. They attended yoga classes and meditation sessions. At night, before eating, they held hands as someone said grace.

In the end, Mr. Verhelst said the ceremonies allowed him to make peace with his turbulent relationship with his late mother, who, like him, had struggled with addiction. “It completed a cycle of accepting it and forgiving it,” he said.

Ms. Falslev called the experience a “beautiful rebirth.” Suddenly, she said, the psychiatric diagnoses that had come to define her for much of her adult life no longer felt fitting.

Mr. Carnell said he felt an incandescent form of love during the ceremonies — for himself and those who stood by him as he struggled. But the most meaningful insight, he said, was feeling deeply connected to God, a figure who at one point seemed tangible, like a divine force sitting on his shoulder.

Other than witnessing the birth of his children, he said, “It was the most beautiful experience I’ve ever had in my life.”

Ernesto Londoño is a Times reporter based in Minnesota, covering news in the Midwest and drug use and counternarcotics policy. More about Ernesto Londoño

Advances in Psychedelic Therapy

Psychedelics — though mostly still illegal — have surged in popularity in recent years as alternative treatments for mental health..

After decades of demonization and criminalization, psychedelic drugs are on the cusp of entering mainstream psychiatry , with U.S. combat veterans leading the lobbying effort .

Psychoactive mushrooms, legal in Oregon  but still illegal under federal law, are gaining popularity as therapy tools .

As psychedelics move from the underground to mainstream medicine, clinicians aspiring to work in the field are inducing altered states with deep breathing .

MDMA-assisted therapy , which seems to be effective in reducing symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, is inching closer to approval in the United States .

Ketamine has become increasingly popular as a therapy for treatment-resistant depression . But the misuse of the anesthetic drug has spurred F.D.A. warnings .

Many drugs known for mind-altering trips are being studied to treat depression, substance use and other disorders. This is what researchers have learned so far .

While psychedelics are showing real promise for therapeutic use, they can be dangerous for some. Here’s what to know about who should be cautious .

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• Paragraph On Laughter Is The Best Medicine

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A smile, laughter, or just a giggle changes the whole environment around you. When a person stays happy, their immunity increases, and they have more chances of remaining healthy. For the same reason, laughter can be said to be the best medicine a doctor can ever prescribe. You would have seen that doctors always carry beautiful smiles on their faces so that the patients also learn to be happy all the time.

Table of Contents

Paragraph on laughter is the best medicine in 100 words, paragraph on laughter is the best medicine in 150 words, paragraph on laughter is the best medicine in 200 words, paragraph on laughter is the best medicine in 250 words, frequently asked questions on laughter is the best medicine.

A wholehearted smile can bring a positive vibe and lighten up the entire surrounding. Sometimes, a child’s innocent smile is all that is required to enliven the minds of anyone who sees it. You would have noticed that a doctor asks the family to always keep the patient happy so that they would recover quickly. The mind and body are wired; a healthy mind promotes a healthy body. Laughter is, therefore, considered the best medicine to get people better as it increases immunity in the human body. It sets a positive atmosphere and helps patients think optimistically which would, in turn, better their ailments.

Laughter is the best medicine for humans. Laughter works as the best therapy for a person. If one laughs, their immunity increases and it enables them to fight against diseases. Laughter works faster than any medicine on a patient’s body. A lot of people go through depression, anxiety, etc., and the best therapy for them, as well, is laughter. After morning walks in the park, people join laughter clubs to find friends and laugh with them. When a person is suffering, the entire family is asked to keep them happy. Research has proved that laughter improves the immune system and boosts energy. It keeps people physically and mentally healthy. You might go through the hardest phases of your life, and the best solution to every problem is your smile. You can overcome all your pain and struggles, and find out ways to solve them if only you could smile and stay positive.

Life is full of ups and downs. We all go through various struggles and pains in life, but we overcome them too. The best possible way to overcome all our troubles is a smile. Laughter is known to be an effective antidote to pain, stress, and conflict. Nothing can work faster to restore someone’s mental and physical health than a good laugh. It also helps us stay focused by lightening our burdens and connecting us to others. Laughter has the power to heal the mind and body of a person. If we remain happy and always hold a smile on our faces, we can stay positive and find ways to make our situation better. It has been known that laughter also strengthens our relationships. If you are having a bad day or a fight, just carry a smile and everything would change within a few minutes. When we laugh our hearts out, our immune system works better and enhances it to fight against diseases. It helps in decreasing our stress hormones, activates our muscles, and increases the blood flow inside our body. It also protects us recover from major life-threatening situations. So, let us laugh as much as we can, and make ourselves and everyone around us happy and healthy.

There are many ups and downs in life. We have all had challenges and sorrows in our lives, but we have all conquered them as well. A smile is the most effective approach to overcoming any discomfort. Laughter has long been recognised as the best solution to pain, stress, and conflict. Nothing can restore someone’s mental and physical health more quickly than a good laugh. It also aids concentration by allowing you to connect with others. Laughter has the ability to heal the mind and body of a person. If you are happy, then your brain works accordingly, and your facial expression changes accordingly. A smile is a perfect weapon to overcome all pain. If you remain happy, you can suppress all your problems and overcome them with ease. Laughter has the ability to strengthen a relationship. Whenever you have a fight, just carry a beautiful smile, and it changes everything around you. Laughter has the ability to change the atmosphere around you. It affects our minds as well as helps in maintaining a healthy lifestyle. When a person laughs heartily, the immune system strengthens its ability to fight diseases and improves the resistance power of the body. It aids in the reduction of stress hormones, the activation of muscles, and the enhancement of blood flow inside the body. The normal functioning of the arteries also protects one from any unseen health complications. It can, thus, be said that laughter is both a necessary aspect of human bodily function and a lovely experience.

What do you mean by laughter is the best medicine?

Laughter is the best medicine because it affects the human body and mind. It gives positive vibes and hopes to new life. It increases immunity and improves the resistance power to fight against diseases. It improves blood circulation in the human body.

How is laughter important?

Laughter increases the amount of oxygen in your blood, improves blood circulation in the body, and increases the resistance of the body to fight against diseases.

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