It seems like every time you turn around, someone else has started to fight depression. There are days when it seems like no one is happy. When you tell people that they need to cheer up, they usually give you a wild eyed look and declare that it’s not as easy as it sounds. Most people settle for the prescription anti-depressants that their doctors prescribe.
In reality, all many of them need is a good belly laugh. One good chuckle and there’s a good chance that all of their problems could disappear.
While it might not cure all depressions, there is a form of therapy that uses laughter to help people deal with a buildup of stress, increase cognitive function, and even give their immune system a kick in the butt. The therapy is called laughter therapy.
Most of us know that depression is usually caused by a chemical imbalance. That’s why the medications work, they help balance all the chemicals. It turns out that laughter does the same thing. When you laugh, your body producing endorphins and serotonin which gives you a natural high. The more you laugh, the longer the high lasts. In addition to feeling better about yourself and seeing the world in a whole new light, the laughter causes more oxygen to circulate through your body which increases your energy levels. People who regularly imbibe in laughter therapy tend to avoid catching the colds and flus that tend to circulate through a town.
The problem that many people have is that they have basically forgotten how to laugh. The good news is that you can be retrained.
Laughter is contagious. More often than not, if you hear someone laugh, particularly if it’s a good belly laugh that seems to go on and on, you’ll start laughing too, even though you might not know what struck their fancy. Even though your own laughter might start out a little tentative, it won’t be very long before you start laughing for real. Once you get going and really lose yourself in the laughter, you’ll find that you can’t stop and that you don’t care.
There are entire laughter clubs devoted to laughter therapy. These tend to be made up of a group of people who simply get together to practice laughing. They put on skits, watch movies, and tell jokes. Pretty soon everyone in the group finds that they enjoy life a great deal more than they did prior to joining the group.
The great thing about laughter therapy is that once you start, you won’t be able to stop. You’ll find that you laugh as easily as you did when you were a child. The really wonderful thing will be that others will catch on and soon everyone in your life will be full of laughter.
Visit Doug Dvorak’s laughter club for laughter therapy. He is a graduate of the Players Workshop and a certified humorist who will quickly teach you to laugh again. He’s available for personal sessions and workshops.
