Laughter and Mental Health?

**Posts:** 1 · by **chumbo** » Fri Sep 25, 2020 5:02 am

Hi everyone!

I am an employee of a non for profit organisation that offers to mentor young individuals in Australia and I am helping a colleague find information on the topic of mental health for a future publication.

We are looking for information regarding whether the act of smiling/laughing has been proven to benefit mental/physical health.

Through thorough research, I have been able to find small amounts of evidence through journal articles, however, been unsuccessful in discovering proper data.

The reason we are looking for proper data on this topic is due to the fact that Dr Craig does not want to publish any content to his audience unless it is proven through proper research.

Is there any chance you can lead me to any reputable articles/meta-analysis/peer-reviewed articles that can give me some more information regarding this topic? Any leads would be greatly appreciated and it would go towards shaping the future of this organisation.

Thank you for your time and I look forward to hearing from you.

Kind regards,
Charles.

P.S for more information on what we do you can visit the Doctor Dan Craig website here: Doctor Dan Craig | Mentoring | Motivational Speaking

**Posts:** 9885 · by **Candid** » Fri Sep 25, 2020 6:34 am

https://www.toppr.com/guides/essays/lau ... ine-essay/

I don't think this is peer-reviewed but it makes sense intuitively. I believe laughter can cure anything. The trick is being able to laugh off a scary diagnosis.

https://sites.google.com/site/laughofflife/page-1

**Posts:** 3018 · by **tokeless** » Fri Sep 25, 2020 7:30 am

I think if you're able to laugh naturally, then you are probably already in a good place. I don't believe you can fake a genuine one. Having a positive outlook does influence behaviour and our reactions to problems or challenges.

**Posts:** 9885 · by **Candid** » Fri Sep 25, 2020 9:16 am

tokeless wrote:I don't believe you can fake a genuine one.

It works well in a group. One of my yoga teachers told us to say (loudly) ha ha ha he he he ho ho ho and just keep repeating it. Yep, before long the whole room was shaking. It was great.

Yoga teacher suggested we do it each morning, preferably beside an open window so the neighbours would get a laugh as well.

**Posts:** 9885 · by **Candid** » Fri Sep 25, 2020 9:18 am

BTW chumbo, that yoga teacher was in the Melbourne suburb of Dandenong.

**Posts:** 3018 · by **tokeless** » Fri Sep 25, 2020 11:34 am

Candid wrote:
tokeless wrote:I don't believe you can fake a genuine one.

It works well in a group. One of my yoga teachers told us to say (loudly) ha ha ha he he he ho ho ho and just keep repeating it. Yep, before long the whole room was shaking. It was great.

Yoga teacher suggested we do it each morning, preferably beside an open window so the neighbours would get a laugh as well.

Yeah, but I'd still say that's inducing a laugh. I remember not liking the laughing policeman in Blackpool but if you stood watching for long enough you would end up laughing too. So, I think the fake laugh can lead to real ones.

**Posts:** 9885 · by **Candid** » Fri Sep 25, 2020 12:36 pm

Exactly. Fake it until you make it.

**Posts:** 54 · by **Chad Capote** » Thu Oct 08, 2020 8:56 am

Yes, since smiling/laughing (not fake ones ofc) are considered signs of happiness they do help mental wellbeing. I've found these 2 research papers.
The first one is 'Therapeutic Benefits of Laughter in Mental Health: A Theoretical Review'. Found it in the National Library for Medicine website. Also, there are many suggestions for similar articles on the page.
The second article is Laughter-inducing therapies: Systematic review and meta-analysis from ScienceDirect.
Hope this helps.

**Posts:** 9885 · by **Candid** » Thu Oct 08, 2020 11:21 am

And for the popular version, https://www.helpguide.org/articles/ment ... dicine.htm

**Posts:** 105 · by **bawdyheated** » Thu Nov 05, 2020 4:55 am

I always tell and remind myself, that having a positive outlook does influence behaviour and our reactions to problems or challenges.

**Posts:** 31 · by **Tom Dolton** » Sun Nov 08, 2020 8:42 pm

I wonder can we say that too much positive worldview can also be a bad thing? I mean if a person is always positive and all the events in their life treat in a positive way that also can be bad and even dangerous because you can become indifferent of everything happening in life, theoretically.

**Posts:** 9885 · by **Candid** » Mon Nov 09, 2020 9:00 am

I disagree. I certainly wouldn't see it as dangerous!

That's what goes for the positive people themselves. I both admire and envy them. That being said, when I'm feeling down I can't tolerate the people I know who are always up, particularly if they keep pointing out what's great about life. Sometimes a good wallow is what I want as part of moving on.

**Posts:** 198 · by **Prycejosh1987** » Mon Dec 14, 2020 4:54 pm

Laughter is good for stress levels, its also good for bad moods. I love laughing and do it often.

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