Health Benefits of Laughter And Smiling

 The benefits of laughter and smiling are quite impressive and have a substantial impact of the levels of serotonin and other endorphins in our bodies. Laughter is health to the bones. There is always some validity to these truisms. Science has shown that people who smile and laugh are a lot healthier. My patient was in a car accident, and the next day came down with the flu. He called to cancel an appointment with someone and in explaining his situation, his associate shared with him that the very same situation had happened to him. So, this theory works antithetically as well.

When we are emotionally jarred, our immune systems are more susceptible to infection as well. There are many benefits of laughter, smiling, exercise, and a joyful attitude. This has been well documented and as many home-spun remedies has been known to be true for thousands of years “A merry heart is health to the bones”.

Physical Consequences

I have witnessed the opposite of a positive attitude with friends and family; it seems like the complainers are always sick with bad things are constantly happening in their lives. We are human and our thoughts drive our emotions and in turn our chemistry; we are in a better mood when more of our serotonin is present in our systems, high-spirits cause our brains to release more of chemicals. It seems so, at least according to studies that substantiate this theory. When we laugh and smile, we release endorphins and neurotransmitters into our brains this is the short explanation to our moods getting better.

I remember reading a Reader’s Digest article about a man who “laughed his way out of terminal cancer”. Smiling exercises 14 facial muscles. When we laugh our blood pressure goes up and then comes down. We also stretch our lungs, relax our chests, and breathe easier. When we can laugh at something, we change our perspective and our attitude. It is hard to have a grumpy outlook when we’re laughing. As we laugh, we momentarily distract ourselves from our problems and, perhaps, even from our physical discomfort.

Don’t Let Age Ruin Your Day

Research has found that four-year-old children smile and laugh about 400 times a day while adults smiles and laugh only 14 times a day. This number seems to diminish as the years go by. I have the utmost respect for an elderly person who can smile and have an awesome attitude on life. They too are the healthiest and seem to live the longest. Now you may say that you don’t have much to laugh about, and this may be true. It’s hard to force yourself to laugh, especially, when you don’t feel like it. You can, however, make yourself smile.

Forcing yourself to smile may work almost as well as laughing, at least, for changing your mood. One of my patients has been in sales for over 20 years and he will tell you that the successful sales people know how to talk on the phone. The secret is the smile because they know that the person on the other end of the telephone can sense their enthusiasm.

Putting a big smile on your face sends a message to your brain that things are okay. If you are smiling, your brain thinks, “I must be happy.” You can fool yourself into feeling good by smiling and thus increase the neurotransmitters in your system. Looking good is feeling good, take care of your body, exercise, you’ll be amazed how you can force your brain to produce the endorphins and neurotransmitters.