What are the positive effects of laughter in dealing with stress and anxiety?
Laughter is real self-help… Laughter is drug-free… And you don’t need a psychotherapist! The positive effects of laughter… Laughter has an effective and specific role to play in reducing tension and stress… When you succumb to a fit of laughter, you become physically limp. You might even have to sit down, for fear of falling down. You may have even literally “fallen down laughing”… I have! This feeling is caused by a loss of tension in the skeletal muscles. Less intense laughter produces a relatively smaller muscle relaxation. Immediately following laughter, you may experience a loss of muscle tone to the degree that it makes it difficult or impossible to write, thread a needle or perform other tasks requiring fine muscle coordination. One of the positive effects of laughter is the way we respond to it. The relaxation response to laughter has been studied scientifically – and this is what happens… The sensation begins with an anticipatory response, when you perceive that so
