Office Stress Video

By Valerie Mellema

Feeling stressed? Has someone told you a funny story or a joke recently?
The more you laugh, the more stress relief you release. Research has shown us that there are benefits to laughter. These benefits range from boosting the immune system to reducing food cravings. You can even increase your pain threshold as well.

There are several benefits to laughter when it comes to finding relief for your stress. Laughter has been shown to reduce hormones such as epinephrine, cortisol, dopamine, adrenaline and growth hormone. It also increases the level of healthy hormones such as endorphins and neurotransmitters. Laughter causes the body to produce more antibody producing cells and also increases the effectiveness of T cells. Combine all of these factors and you've got a stronger immune system and fewer physical effects of stress.

Have you ever laughed until you cried? Typically, when this occurs, you're in need of some sort of physical release. This physical release provides you with a cleansed feeling as well as the emotional release of relieving some of your stress through laughter.

Another stress management benefit of laughter is that it gives your internal organs a bit of exercise. When you laugh, your abs contract, your diaphragm is exercised and even your shoulders get a work out.

When you're stressed out, sometimes all you need is a little distraction. Laughter is able to take the focus off of whatever it is that was stressing you out. It relieves you of anger, negative emotions, guilt, and stress.

Stressful events can be altered by whether we view something as a challenge or threat. When we feel threatened, we feel stressed, but when we feel challenged, we feel it as something more positive that we can overcome. A threat tends to cause you to doubt yourself and your abilities. Humor can give you the power to view a threat as a challenged and give you a more lighthearted perspective in life.

There is also a social benefit with laughter. Laughter causes us to connect with others. It is also contagious. If you're laughing, someone else will laugh at you laughing. That's just the way it spreads. It can also improved your social interaction with others and reduce yours stress level even more.

A recent study showed that preschool children laugh nearly 400 times a day. It keeps them young and the have no cares in the world. Adults tend to laugh no more than 17 times a day. Perhaps we should learn from the young when it comes to stress management and laugh at something or each other.