Laughter as a Stress Buster

The definition of stress has changed over time. In looking for a definition, I first turned to my pocket Oxford dictionary published in 1961. The word ‘stress’ was not an entry. Today the Cambridge online dictionary defines stress as ‘worry’.

Stress might be defined in objective and more mechanical terms as any pressure on a system which may disturb equilibrium.  Hans Seyle was a Hungarian/Canadian scientist working during the Great Depression who noticed that animals who were subjected to stresses became exhausted and ill. In terms of bodily function balance is described as homeostasis, an equilibrium between interdependent elements.  This is a dynamic process not of keeping everything even all the time but of responding to change and circumstances and then returning to balance in between challenges to the status quo.

Stress has become an emotionally loaded word, denoting something negative and often associated with dread and avoidance. However, stress is inevitable in life. An example of physiological stress is simply keeping our bodily temperature stable. We operate most effectively in a relatively small range of temperatures and so this is vital. An example of psychological stress is every interaction we have with another human being. We are social animals and positive connections with others has a significant impact on our wellbeing.

If we viewed stress as a state which helps us to learn from the experience, would we react differently to things we define as stressful? Exciting evidence has emerged over the past few years that the way we view stress is pivotal in shaping the way we respond to it. We are all biologically hard-wired to detect threats and to fight them or flee from them. The stress cycle begins in the brain with the amygdale detecting threats and the hypothalamus reacting by stimulating the adrenals to produce epinephrine, also known as adrenalin, a hormone involved in the fight or flight mechanism. The body then goes into overdrive, heart and breathing rates increase and digestion shuts down. This process readies the body to respond to the threat by using muscle power to fight or run away.

After the threat has subsided, the system calms down and returns to its resting state. Except when the perceived stress persists. It is this state of chronic stress that is so potentially harmful. For this reason, completing the stress cycle becomes key to dealing appropriately and efficiently with destabilisation and stress.

An interesting distinction between positive and negative stress has been made by Kelly McGonigal, a health psychologist working at Stanford University. In her book[1] ‘The upside of stress: Why stress is good for you (and how to get good at it)’ she makes the point that in life we tend to think of stress as negative and in sport we think of stress as positive. Sportsmen train hard for special games or events and when they are about to perform they are under a lot of stress. However, they often get pumped up, excited and even exhilarated at the start of a sporting challenge. Under these circumstances, stress is important to elevate performance. Her engaging TED talk[2] (which has received nearly 33 million views) about how to make stress your friend is well worth watching.

How does laughter act as a stress buster? Laughing does several things.

First, when we laugh together, we create and strengthen social bonds which help us deal with difficulties. Second, when we laugh, we are unable to think about anything else and so the act of laughter throws our negative thoughts and disrupts rumination.

Third, laughter releases the feel-good hormones which boost our mood.

Taken together laughter helps us to gain a more positive perspective on stress and completes the stress cycle. Although laughter is most often experienced in social contexts, we can laugh intentionally. We can even laugh on our own, for no reason at all except that it feels good. Why not try this, even for a few seconds, the next time you feel stressed?

[1] McGonigal, K. (2015) The upside of stress:Why stress is good for you (and how to get good at it). Vermillion.

[2] McGonigal, K. (2013, September 13). How to make stress your friend [Video]. TED Conferences. https://www.ted.com/talks/kelly_mcgonigal_how_to_make_stress_your_friend?language=en