Mark Twain once said, ‘ [Humanity] has unquestionably one really effective weapon’laughter. Power, money, persuasion, supplication, persecution’these can lift at a colossal humbug’push it a little’weaken it a little, century by century, but only laughter can blow it to rags and atoms at a blast. Against the assault of laughter nothing can stand.’ This quote is extremely powerful, not because of the person who said it, but because of its words and its meaning. Twain referred to Power, money, persuasion, persecution and supplication as weapons of lesser value compared to laughter and I, honestly agree with his statement because those weapons can easily be stripped away from you, but laughter can never really be taken away from you, no matter the situation, it is your best offense and defense. However, some studies have shown, (try not to laugh), that laughter has negative sides effects that are dangerous to our bodies and could actually cause death. In my essay, I will talk about both sides of the arguments but I will also give reasoning why laughter actually is the medicine, and how the researchers all missed an important details on their studies.
When it is shared between a group of people who loves and cares about one another, or even strangers, laughing can be fun. We all remember those days where we used to go to the movies with our friends or cousins who came to visit to watch a comedy that just came out, especially a Kevin Hart movie, and we used to leave the movie theater happy and with smiles on our faces because we could not stop ourselves from remembering the time Kevin Hart said or did something hilarious and made the whole audience burst out laughing, or the time we went to the park and saw a cute little puppy that entertained us and made us laugh the whole time we were there so we ended up exchanging numbers with the owner so we can re-see them both at our next visit. My point is laughter creates stronger bonds between loved ones, and creates new relationships with those we do not know yet. According to Dr Jeanne Segal, Melinda Smith and Lawrence Robinson, authors of Health and Benefits of humor and laughter ‘All emotional sharing builds strong and lasting relationship bonds, but sharing laughter also adds joy, vitality, and resilience,’ and ‘Humor lightens your burdens, inspires hopes, connects you to others, and keeps you grounded, focused, and alert.’ Laughter does not only add joy to the relationship, but it is also powerful and heals resentment, hurts and arguments between loved ones.
Although laughing is fun and brings people together, it is actually great for your health as well. Dr Jeanne Segal, Melinda Smith and Lawrence Robinson also mentioned that ‘It also helps you to release anger and be more forgiving.’ We all had our moments when we were sad and one of our closest friend made us laugh with an inside joke or a silly face, and we slowly started to feel better. The reason is; laughter triggers emotional changes in our body. As a psychology lover, I remember taking classes that talked about the release of chemicals like serotonin that causes aggressive behaviors or norepinephrine that is known for usually causing sadness. The same goes for happiness, satisfaction and excitement when chemicals like endorphins, oxytocin, and dopamine are released . When we laugh, our bodies releases chemicals that triggers the change of emotions in our bodies, and reduced the anger we feel because it is not possible to truly laugh and yet be anxious at the same time. By laughing more, you are taking control of your mental state, and you are making sure that you are healthy emotionally.
Another important detail to remember is that laughter can be used to overcome challenges in your life. As Charlie Chaplin mentioned ‘The theme of life is conflict & pain. Humor is the subtle discrepancy we discern in what appears to be normal behavior.’ Life is short and we notice that the people we grew up loving, whether it is because they took care of us or because we had great memories with them, those people usually passes away as we get older, and they leave us behind in great pain. I remember when I first lost one of my grandmothers, it was the first time someone I was close to in my family died. Her passing was extremely painful for all of us because she was a great model for all of us, and we loved her dearly. I was really devastated but what got me through that difficult moment was remembering all the great memories and the great laughs we shared together. We all sat during the funeral and recalled our favorite memories of her, like how she would always talk while we were watching movies with her, and how she used to comment on the type music we chose to listen to; the funny comments she used to say altogether, and we all laughed together at everyone’s favorite memory of her. That is how we all learn to cope with our loss. It helped us ease the pain we felt and it helped us remember that although she was dead, she was not really gone forever because we will always have memories of the great moments that we spent with her before she passed.
According to the huffington post, an Indian physician named Madan Kataria created an exercise which he named the ‘laughter yoga’ after he got the idea from his research about laughter really being the best medicine. ‘He started a laughter club, where people gathered in a park and just laughed for no rhyme or reason’ said Intent at the Huffington’s post. Laughter is actually said to be a great exercise because it helps tone your abs. According to the yoga and fitness website Gaiam, ‘When you are laughing, the muscles in your stomach expand and contract, similar to when you intentionally exercise your abs. Meanwhile, the muscles you are not using to laugh are getting an opportunity to relax,’ and also ‘Laughter is a great cardio workout, especially for those who are incapable of doing other physical activity due to injury or illness. It gets your heart pumping and burns a similar amount of calories per hour as walking at a slow to moderate pace. ‘ Although it is said that you can not really lose excessive amounts of weight just by laughing, you can lose about 45 calories with a deep and continuous laughter, or up to 2000 calories if you laughed all day,which is equivalent to what most people eat per day and this is good news since laughter is enjoyable.
While researching on this topic of laughter being the best medicine, I came across a story of a semi-retired businessman named Roy on the website HelpGuide. Roy was excited to finally have time for himself and to enjoy his golf games, which were his favorite sport games. The more he played, the less he enjoyed himself even though his skills were improving. He got angry at himself over every mistake he made and in time, he realised that his golf buddies were actually the problem, and that they were affecting his attitude because they were playing to win the game not to enjoy themselves. Roy slowly separated himself from those who took the game too seriously, and started playing with friends he can share laughs with on the gold field, and in no time, he realised that he was actually starting to enjoy himself again. He was not as hard on himself anymore, and in the end, what he learned on the field ended up spreading to other aspects of his life.
Another story about how laughter and joy changed a person creativity was jane’s story that is also found on HelpGuide. Jane is a woman who designed greeting cards at home, and she really enjoyed her job at first. Later on, her job started to become a routine for her and she started to get bored. Fortunately for her, there were two little girls who loved to draw and paint that lived next door. She decided to invited them over to use her paint and art supplies, and as the time went on, she stopped watching them play and finally decided to join in the fun. While coloring and laughing with the two little girls, Jane’s life was turned around. They did not only pull her out of her boredom, but they also sparked her creativity and imagination, and helped her artwork improved. Jane also realised that the laughter and playfulness helped her improve her relationship with her husband.
With all the evidence given about how laughter is the best form of medicine, many studies argue that laughing too much is actually bad for you. It is said that laughter could possible kill. Lauren F Friedman article Laughing too much can kill you states that ‘intense laughter can trigger fainting, asthma attacks, ‘protrusion of abdominal hernias,’ headaches, incontinence, jaw dislocation, and arrhythmia.’ It is also said that a man died after laughing too hard at an episode of A fish named Wanda, because his heartbeat rose ‘between 250-500 per minutes'(Can you laugh yourself to death, Esther Inglis-Arkell) Another incident recorded by Esther is about another man suffering from a severe hereditary heart condition who died after laughing too much at an episode of the goodies. After every studies, the researchers usually mention that the person had an health problem, but they always failed to see that laughing is not what causes their death but it actually had to do with their medical history. However, their forced and continuous laughter might have helped trigger their conditions so it still might have a link to the person’s death but the link is not as direct, because a healthy person is not likely to suddenly fall to their death after having the best moment of their life and laughing it out with their friends.m
Laughter is a right given to us from the moment we were both. It is not something that was exactly taught but instead an emotion we feel. Not everyone grew up in a loving house full of laughter but as they grow up, they learn to laugh even if it is somewhere outside of their house and away from their family members. Laughter helps us maintain our sanity, and it is up to us to move toward laughter whenever we hear it and share the moment with those joyful and playful ones. There are many ways for us to enjoy ourselves; whether is it by watching funny videos online, telling jokes to our siblings or playing with our dog. These are things we already enjoy doing daily and they all help us release chemicals like Dopamine, which creates joy and excitement. Incorporating laughter and humor in your life is the best way to take care of yourself mentally and physically, and the best part is the fact that it is absolutely free.