Laughter is he althy. It improves the condition of the body, relieves stress, and helps relieve tension, nervousness and anxiety. People who laugh often have better immunity and their faces are perceived as prettier by the environment.
Most of us remember the times in which we laughed until we laughed. The mere mention of it brightens our face.Laughteris sometimes so strong that it is difficult to stop and you are shaking until your stomach hurts. Is it he althy? What does laughter change in our body?
Laughter - the physiology of joy, or what is actually going on
When we laugh, the body changes similarly to physical exertion - the heart beats faster, the blood supply to the body improves, especially the muscles of the chest and face, and the person breathes deeper, which improves oxygenation of the brain and the whole organism. Parts of the lungs that are usually less active under normal breathing are ventilated. The body also gets rid of excess adrenaline (fighting hormone), which gives the effect of de-stressing andrelaxation .
Read: Smile because you have reasons
In addition, there are physiological changes that are absent during normal physical exertion. First of all, the brain secretesendorphins- happiness hormones. These are chemical compounds that improve well-being, reduce the strength of pain and suffering, and lift the mood. You feel happy and content when your brain releases endorphins.
Laughter - what do the crow's feet and the shape of the mouth reveal
It's good to know that the moods we experience most often leave a kind of stamp on our face. If someone is often sad or angry - his face will look different after many years than if he laughed often.
Read: How to develop a sense of humor
Happy people have "crow's feet" by their eyes more often, their lips are curved upwards rather than downwards, and the vertical wrinkle between the eyebrows is invisible. And since happy faces are perceived as prettier and cheerful people are liked more, the appearance of the face improves social relationships. A specific vicious circle appears here - cheerful people experience greater sympathy from others, so they more often have a goodmood and they are cheerful, so others show them more sympathy … etc.
ImportantHow do you laugh
» Laughter HA, HA, HA that comes from the belly (the diaphragm is working intensively and the voice is deep) is the he althiest. It signals joy, well-being, relaxation and self-confidence. Usually contagious, it is the best at relieving tension, stress and eliminating combat hormones. That's how brave people laugh.
» HI, HI, HI (chuckling), can mean hidden joy. This is how we laugh when we want to hide our satisfaction with someone else's failure or harm. Sometimes this laughter takes a muffled form and produces a CHCHCH-like noise.
» HE, HE, HE appears when we do not understand something (e.g. a joke), also when we enjoy someone's harm without feeling ashamed. It is satanic and demonic laughter, it is associated with mocking, contempt or provoking a confrontation. Sometimes you laugh that way when something is bothering you, just laugh honestly.
In front of the dentist's door, i.e. laughter treatment
Laughing also causes physiological changes that we are not able to observe with the naked eye or feel them directly. In one of the experiments, a television was placed in the doctor's waiting room and patients were shown various programs. Some people watched funny movies before the visit, others were interesting but devoid of humor, others did not watch anything. It turned out that patients who watched satirical programs experienced lower levels of anxiety before the visit. Laughter also boosted the immune capacity of their organisms. Every human body contains natural defenders (NK lymphocytes), whose task is to fight pathogenic microbes, fight cancer cells, accelerate wound healing, etc. The blood of patients who laughed before visiting a doctor contained a greater number of these natural defenders. Also the next day, after watching the movie, their immune system was more efficient - the amount of immune substances contained in saliva was higher.
Humor is certainly not as effective a remedy in fighting microbes as antibiotics. Its beneficial effects, however, extend much further than that of medications.
Why do we like jokes about policemen and doctors
We know today that laughter gives vent to the mental tensions and complexes that plague people. This means that it is not only a symptom of cheerfulness, but also of anxiety or nervousness. One could even try to create a rule: "Tell me, you're laughing at something, and I will tell you what you are afraid of." We often laugh at what causes the most tension - hencejokes about policemen, politicians, blondes (people of special beauty often arouse fear or a sense of inferiority), gangsters, doctors, psychologists, etc. Therefore, the most jokes circulate about sex, betrayal, homosexuality, aggression, etc. Is it good that we laugh with such things? Discharging mental tensions through laughter is treated by psychologists as one of the he althiest defense mechanisms!
This one is laughing … who's mature
Research on the personality of people who often use their sense of humor revealed interesting relationships. One of them is, for example, that they are usually very mature. This is surprising because we associate laughter with being a child rather than being mature. Meanwhile, it turned out that the most grown-up people also retained some portion of their childhood in their personality.
Their sense of humor, however, is peculiar, contains no malice or only a mild form and causes a smile of surprise rather than a laugh. A characteristic feature of these people is that they can laugh at themselves and have a distance to themselves. Additionally, it manifests itself in a realistic assessment of your abilities and achievements.