The Role of Humor in Mental Health

Mental health struggles can often leave you feeling isolated and uncertain. You may feel in the dark regarding how to cope with and heal your mind. While therapy and prescribed medications can be highly helpful, many overlook another way you can help to improve your mental wellbeing: humor.

What is Humor?

Humor is the tendency of something to provoke laughter or amusement. If something or someone is humorous, they have an ability to evoke laughter and amusement from others. Humor is highly important, as it brings levity and comfortability to a space. These qualities can be highly beneficial to a person’s mental health, especially when they are going through a period of poor mental wellbeing.

Rhonetta Haygood, an Acenda therapist, says, “Humor and laughter are affirming, and expressions of acceptance. When integrated into therapy both are like the sun shining in all its brilliance. The inner smile can break through, and the possibilities to connect, hope, trust, and heal, are opened.”

Ha-Ha-Ha Healthy

In recent years, laughing has been proven to have a beneficial impact on your mental health. The Mayo Clinic wrote that laughing can reduce epinephrine and cortisol, two hormones responsible for increasing stress and contributing to anxiety, depression, and insomnia. Laughing also results in an increase in endorphins, a chemical known to reduce pain and stress, and improve your mood.

Not only does the act of laughter itself help to reduce stress and boost happiness, understanding how to use humor as a cure for stress and anxiety has also proven beneficial in recent research. Dr. Edward T. Creagan, M.D., told Mayo Clinic that when a person can find humor in a tough situation, it can actually improve their ability to cope with the resulting negative feelings and uncertainty. Integrating humor into your everyday can help to improve your mental health and daily life.

How to Prioritize Humor in Your Day-to-Day

When going about your day, we can often neglect the humorous situations that come our way, either viewing them as a stressor or missing them entirely. To train your brain to “find-the-funny,” try out some of the following tips:

Keep a humor journal: Start an ongoing record of the things make you laugh every day, big or small. When you’re feeling down you can go back and read through all of the silly things that have happened before.

Recall a favorite funny moment: If you’re in a moment of struggle, take a deep breath and think of a moment when you laughed - hard. A moment where you could barely catch your breath you were laughing so much. Recall what tickled your fancy, who was with you, and where you were. You should be smiling - or maybe even giggling - in no time.

Figure out what makes you laugh: What is your sense of humor? Do some research on yourself and find out what makes you laugh. Save photos and videos that make you snicker, creating a folder of all your favorite funny things. When you’re feeling down, take a trip down memory lane into your saved folder to improve your mood and put a smile on your face.

Activities to Invoke Laughter:

Spending Time with a Funny Friend:
- We all have that friend who makes us giggle and chuckle and snicker until you can barely breathe. Identify yours and spend some intentional time with them. Plan a day full of light-hearted fun and feel your spirits rise as you laugh the day away.

Watch a Comedy Movie or Stand Up Special:
- There are comedy movies for all types of humor. Whether you’re a lover of slapstick, dry-wit, or parody, there’s something out there for you. Try finding a new comedy or comedic stand up special to enjoy. Sometimes just you just need an hour or two of set-ups and punchlines to boost your mood.
Read an Entertaining Book:
- Books are one of the best and easiest ways to transport yourself into a new world. Try finding a book you loved when you were a child and rereading it. By transporting yourself back into your childhood mindset and revisiting a story you have loved for a long time, you can bring yourself back into a sense of childlike wonder and amusement.

About the Author

Riley de Jong, Communications Strategist at Acenda, attended the University of California – Los Angeles for her undergraduate degree in Communication and minor in Entrepreneurship. She enjoys supporting her community, telling engaging stories, and connecting with others.