How to chase away seasonal depression with great laughter

Our dear month of November sets in with its days getting colder and shorter. For many of us, this gray month comes at the same time as the all-too-popular seasonal depression. What can be done to counter the side effects of this more trying fall moment? In this hunting season, we invite you to hunt, not the game, but the seasonal depression, and this, with great laughter. Laugh, this action which may seem innocuous, but which nevertheless has many benefits, in addition to being completely free!

Did you know that many studies have shown that for our brain, there would be no difference between spontaneous laughter and self-induced laughter, in other words, forced laughter? That said, it would be possible to enjoy the benefits of laughter, even when we are not lucky enough to be shaken by natural laughter. The benefits of laughter are real and numerous, but what are they? We present you three!

Laughter brings people together.

First, laughter has a unifying effect. "When you laugh with someone, you feel close to him, it's immediate", summarizes Guillaume Dezecache, researcher at the Laboratory of Social and Cognitive Psychology at Clermont Auvergne University, in France. Have you ever tested laughter with simple acquaintances, even strangers? Try it!

Laughter provides a feeling of well-being.

Second, laughter is healthy. It is well known that sporting activity provides an effect of well-being. In fact, it is possible to feel the same state of well-being following a good laugh. “Laughing is violent for the body, like a sporting effort. And it provides the same well-being, ”continues the researcher. Laughter also has proven pain-relieving effects and lowers stress hormones.

Laughter puts things into perspective.

Third, laughter helps to de-dramatize. Have you ever had an unpleasant situation with your children or with your spouse and suddenly someone started laughing at the situation? Did this gesture succeed in relaxing the atmosphere? Probably ! In fact, humor de-dramatizes many situations and allows us to better manage anger and anxiety. Tinting our perspective with humor can certainly lighten our daily lives and make it more enjoyable.

Now that you know better three benefits of laughter, how are you going to follow our fall recommendation, namely: ingest your daily dose of laughter? If some people practice laughter yoga or even rigology, laughter therapy, we offer you “dad jokes” instead. What are dad jokes? It's simple, they are often very short jokes, often very lame, but always very funny. And above all, obligation to laugh for all!