July 2, 2021 • 7 mins
We could all use a good laugh right now—and with good reason. Laughter has the ability to relieve pain, boost mood, improve the immune system and even prolong life. We revisit this episode with clinical psychologist Dr. Jodi De Luca, who reveals the fascinating science behind this very human phenomenon, and how to get your daily ration of laughs.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:04):
Welcome to this episode of Here's Something Good, a production
of the Seneca Women Podcasting work and I Heart Radio.
Each day we aspire to bring you the good news,
the silver lining to glass half full, because there is
good happening in the world everywhere, every day, we just
need to look for and share it. Here's something good
(00:27):
for today. We could all use a good laugh right now,
and that's true in more ways than you can ever imagine.
The list of benefits from laughing ranges from easy depression
and stress, to relieving pain to boosting your immune system.
In fact, a Norwegian study done in two thousands sixteen
even showed a relationship between lower death rates from certain
(00:48):
illnesses and a person's sense of humor. We wanted to
dig deeper into this fascinating topic, so we turned to
Dr Jody de Luca. Dr Jody is a clinical psychologist
and founder of Eerie Colorado Counseling. She specializes in human
emotion and behavior. Here's what Dr Jody had to say, Well,
thanks so much for joining us. It's a privilege, Cam,
(01:10):
I'm happy to be here. Thank you for inviting me.
How can laughter help when we're feeling down about the
current state of the world. Well, you know, when we laugh,
there are different mormons neurochemicals that actually change the way
we feel. So laughter is actually an evolutionary, built in
(01:31):
defense mechanism to keep us emotionally balanced. And it's a
defense mechanism that has survived millions of years of evolution.
But during this whole pandemic, everybody that I see professionally
and personally, everybody talks about an increase in anxiety, an
increase in depression, panic, fear, anger. But what we know
(01:54):
about laughter is that it actually decreases depression, decreases anxiety
and panic, and there's a lot of health benefits. Um,
it's infinite. The power of laughter is infinite. In a nutshell,
it's innate. Like I said, it's an evolutionary, it's contagious.
What does science tell us about the psychological benefits of laughter?
(02:16):
And and wanted to tell us about the physical benefits. Well,
the psychological benefits are it improves mood, It helps with memory,
It helps with our overall thought process, our cognition. It
improves our ability to problem solve uh accept certain things.
It also increases our socialization and it increases our lifespan.
(02:40):
It increases our happiness. It's a way to communicate the
physical benefits we've known for many years. What it does
it increases the immune cells within our body, so therefore
it increases the overall effectiveness our immune system, especially as
we age. It also is very important during a time
(03:01):
like this, just as in flu season, that we laugh,
because ultimately it helps us fight infection and disease by
improving the immune system, It lowers our blood pressure, It
decreases the stress hormones, which a lot of us are
experiencing right now. Laughter also leads to the production of
(03:22):
endorphins in the body, the same endorphins that we kind
of feel when we work out or exercise. It temporarily
relieves all types of pain, psychological, physical, emotional, with trauma.
One of the things I like to tell my patients
who have experienced significant trauma, especially my vets or any
(03:44):
kind of trauma, is you need to laugh. You have
to laugh. I don't care what you do. Go home,
find a way to laugh. Are there some easy ways
to get yourself to laugh more? You know? I I
love to surround myself with people who make me laugh,
and sometimes I don't even know when I'm around them.
I just laugh, and who knows what that could be
(04:07):
or I try to watch a show that makes me
laugh no matter what. Um. But we know the things
that make us laugh, and especially during times like these,
we have to try to remember them or play a
funny game. So you've also written that seniors in particular
need to laugh, and how important it is for the elderly.
(04:27):
Why is that, I think because especially as we age,
we know the whole body and overall starts to decline
a little. However, what we do know again because of
the phenomenal properties that laughter provides through the release of
the different hormones and peptides from the brain to the body.
It improves memory, it improves intellectual cognition, it improves problem solving.
(04:54):
It's kind of like a breath of fresh air to
the brain. And it includes bonding regardless of the age difference.
Uh it And like I said before, it includes the
immune cells, so therefore the overall immune system. It fights
off infection in disease, It lowers blood pressure, it decreases stress.
(05:16):
So anything that would significantly improve the overall functioning of
the body as we age is highly recommended, and laughter
is it's highly recommended it's prescribed. But it also laughter
improves blood circulation, so therefore it increases cardiac efficiency for
the cardiovascular the you know, the heart and as well
(05:39):
as the lungs and again the endorphins. Who knew that
laughter had so many benefits, So here's something good for today.
To laugh is human and it's also an easy, inexpensive
way to get healthier, happier, and maybe even live longer.
Just as we set aside time for exercise and sleep,
let's take a few minutes each day to laugh. It
(06:01):
doesn't matter where you get your laughs from, just make
sure you do it, and if you have an elderly
friend or relative, share a laugh with them whatever you can.
Laughter is especially beneficial to older people and it's a
great way to connecte Thank you for listening, and please
(06:26):
share today's something Good with others in your life. This
is Kim Azzarelli, co author of Fast Forward and co
founder of Seneca Women. To learn more about Seneca Women,
go to Seneca Women dot com or download the Seneca
Women app free in the app store. Care Something Good
is a production of the Seneca Women podcast network and
I Heart Radio. Have a Great Day For more podcasts
(06:53):
from I heart Radio check out the I heart Radio app,
Apple podcast, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.
Welcome to this episode of Here's Something Good, a production
of the Seneca Women Podcasting work and I Heart Radio.
Each day we aspire to bring you the good news,
the silver lining to glass half full, because there is
good happening in the world everywhere, every day, we just
need to look for and share it. Here's something good
(00:27):
for today. We could all use a good laugh right now,
and that's true in more ways than you can ever imagine.
The list of benefits from laughing ranges from easy depression
and stress, to relieving pain to boosting your immune system.
In fact, a Norwegian study done in two thousands sixteen
even showed a relationship between lower death rates from certain
(00:48):
illnesses and a person's sense of humor. We wanted to
dig deeper into this fascinating topic, so we turned to
Dr Jody de Luca. Dr Jody is a clinical psychologist
and founder of Eerie Colorado Counseling. She specializes in human
emotion and behavior. Here's what Dr Jody had to say, Well,
thanks so much for joining us. It's a privilege, Cam,
(01:10):
I'm happy to be here. Thank you for inviting me.
How can laughter help when we're feeling down about the
current state of the world. Well, you know, when we laugh,
there are different mormons neurochemicals that actually change the way
we feel. So laughter is actually an evolutionary, built in
(01:31):
defense mechanism to keep us emotionally balanced. And it's a
defense mechanism that has survived millions of years of evolution.
But during this whole pandemic, everybody that I see professionally
and personally, everybody talks about an increase in anxiety, an
increase in depression, panic, fear, anger. But what we know
(01:54):
about laughter is that it actually decreases depression, decreases anxiety
and panic, and there's a lot of health benefits. Um,
it's infinite. The power of laughter is infinite. In a nutshell,
it's innate. Like I said, it's an evolutionary, it's contagious.
What does science tell us about the psychological benefits of laughter?
(02:16):
And and wanted to tell us about the physical benefits. Well,
the psychological benefits are it improves mood, It helps with memory,
It helps with our overall thought process, our cognition. It
improves our ability to problem solve uh accept certain things.
It also increases our socialization and it increases our lifespan.
(02:40):
It increases our happiness. It's a way to communicate the
physical benefits we've known for many years. What it does
it increases the immune cells within our body, so therefore
it increases the overall effectiveness our immune system, especially as
we age. It also is very important during a time
(03:01):
like this, just as in flu season, that we laugh,
because ultimately it helps us fight infection and disease by
improving the immune system, It lowers our blood pressure, It
decreases the stress hormones, which a lot of us are
experiencing right now. Laughter also leads to the production of
(03:22):
endorphins in the body, the same endorphins that we kind
of feel when we work out or exercise. It temporarily
relieves all types of pain, psychological, physical, emotional, with trauma.
One of the things I like to tell my patients
who have experienced significant trauma, especially my vets or any
(03:44):
kind of trauma, is you need to laugh. You have
to laugh. I don't care what you do. Go home,
find a way to laugh. Are there some easy ways
to get yourself to laugh more? You know? I I
love to surround myself with people who make me laugh,
and sometimes I don't even know when I'm around them.
I just laugh, and who knows what that could be
(04:07):
or I try to watch a show that makes me
laugh no matter what. Um. But we know the things
that make us laugh, and especially during times like these,
we have to try to remember them or play a
funny game. So you've also written that seniors in particular
need to laugh, and how important it is for the elderly.
(04:27):
Why is that, I think because especially as we age,
we know the whole body and overall starts to decline
a little. However, what we do know again because of
the phenomenal properties that laughter provides through the release of
the different hormones and peptides from the brain to the body.
It improves memory, it improves intellectual cognition, it improves problem solving.
(04:54):
It's kind of like a breath of fresh air to
the brain. And it includes bonding regardless of the age difference.
Uh it And like I said before, it includes the
immune cells, so therefore the overall immune system. It fights
off infection in disease, It lowers blood pressure, it decreases stress.
(05:16):
So anything that would significantly improve the overall functioning of
the body as we age is highly recommended, and laughter
is it's highly recommended it's prescribed. But it also laughter
improves blood circulation, so therefore it increases cardiac efficiency for
the cardiovascular the you know, the heart and as well
(05:39):
as the lungs and again the endorphins. Who knew that
laughter had so many benefits, So here's something good for today.
To laugh is human and it's also an easy, inexpensive
way to get healthier, happier, and maybe even live longer.
Just as we set aside time for exercise and sleep,
let's take a few minutes each day to laugh. It
(06:01):
doesn't matter where you get your laughs from, just make
sure you do it, and if you have an elderly
friend or relative, share a laugh with them whatever you can.
Laughter is especially beneficial to older people and it's a
great way to connecte Thank you for listening, and please
(06:26):
share today's something Good with others in your life. This
is Kim Azzarelli, co author of Fast Forward and co
founder of Seneca Women. To learn more about Seneca Women,
go to Seneca Women dot com or download the Seneca
Women app free in the app store. Care Something Good
is a production of the Seneca Women podcast network and
I Heart Radio. Have a Great Day For more podcasts
(06:53):
from I heart Radio check out the I heart Radio app,
Apple podcast, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.
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