Can’t laughter help us feel better?
Answer Podcast
What is the difference can laughter actually help us to deal with problems better yes definitely when I spoke about laughter the point was not to minimize laughter my point was simply that if by tickling somebody laughs that laughter itself is not happiness now it is definitely true that if I am facing a problem I can become glum and morose about the problem or I can try to be cheerful maybe have some humor, laugh and deal with the problem in a more positive way so laughter is definitely a tool that can help us to see that life, that things are not all that bad as I said the mind often sends us a horror movie where everything is gloom and doom but when we laugh and we experience some joy through that laughter we realize it is not the end of the world life is still going on and I can deal with it so laughter as a therapy is definitely helpful now there are always two extremes you see in the last century at the start of the 20th century there was an increasing emphasis on the physical if you look at the history of psychology there is a school called behaviorism behaviorism means people were simply reduced to their behavior this is happening this is the reaction this is the stimulus, this is the reaction so what was going on in people's mind that was neglected human beings were in a particular school of thought treated like robots you press this button this is the response so on one extreme there is there is a tendency to deny the whole inner life we were simply treated as physical creatures needed to be physically treated so our emotions play a significant role in how we function psychosomatic diseases are diseases basically that people are having disturbed mind and body also develop disorders so our feelings they definitely contribute to our well being or lack of well being there is no denying that so one extreme is to say that our feelings play no role at all that is an extreme but the other extreme is to say that our feelings themselves are everything so laughter somebody may say oh you have such big problems why are you laughing what is the point of laughing no laughter can help us to feel better and can help us to deal with the problems better but there are real problems laughter is not going to remove the problem if I have got a fracture in my hand laughter is not going to cure the fracture laughter may help me to be more positive while the medical process is curing the laughter so that way laughter has a role and essentially if we become more spiritual then we are able to see life from a broader perspective and that broader perspective humour also plays a natural role so it is to say that humour or laughter has no role that is one extreme and the other is to say that laughter or humour itself is a solution that is another extreme we have to avoid both those extremes and in a balanced way have a positive attitude and do positive things practically for dealing with situations also.