“Stress coping strategies,” or “how to deal with excessive stress,” and other similar questions are probably among the most popular Google search inquiries in the U.S. Indeed, common American citizen face a huge amount of stressful events, starting from fees and taxes and ending up with career issues, divorce or the death of relatives. And although antidepressant medicine is extremely developed and popular in the U.S., there is an effective, safe, and free way to cope with stress. This is having a strong sense of humor.
Specialists around the world have noticed that people with a strong sense of humor tend to be happier, and deal with stress better than those who take negative events close to their hearts or ruminate about them. Having a strong sense of humor does not mean that their jokes are always funny, however; it means they try to find the positive or funny side in their misfortunes, or at least do not overreact negatively (FRI Online). Therefore, a sense of humor can directly influence how a person feels, in terms of both mind and body.
Scientists claim that a sense of humor has both short-term and long-term positive effects on our bodies and minds. For example, in a short-term perspective, a sense of humor can stimulate your internal organs (due to fresh oxygen-rich air which you inhale when you laugh), such as the heart, lungs, and muscles, and free you from some physical effects of stress; when you laugh, your blood circulates faster, and different groups of muscles relax, which results in a better mood. Long-term effects include the strengthening of your immune system, improving your overall mood and satisfaction with life and yourself, and even pain relieve; laughter is known to be able to break the pain-spasm cycle common to some muscle disorders