Motivation and emotion/Book/2024/Humour and stress relief

Humour and stress relief:
How does humour help in relieving stress?

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Overview

This book chapter explores the foundations of stress including the different forms it can present in. It will focus on the possible underlying causes of stress as well as the effects it can have on the human body, mind and behaviour. It will explore the different mechanisms humans have to cope and relieve their stress and, in particular, the relation that humour has to stress relief.

FOCUS QUESTIONS: 1. What does stress do to the brain? 2. What is the relationship between humour and stress relief? 3. What are the psychological theories of stress and humour?

Types of stress

There are many different causes and types of stress, which can cause different reactions, signs, symptoms and coping behaviours for each individual.

Figure 1. Types of stress

(Australian Psychological Society, 2022a)say that stress is often described using feelings and emotions such as:

anxious
overwhelmed
wound up
tense

(Australian Psychological Society, 2022b)have explained the types of stress (see figure 1) severities humans can experience including:

Acute stress

Acute stress lasts only a short period of time. If managed appropriately, the mind and body typically bounces back from acute stress effectively.

May include situations such as:

exam periods
starting a new job
being faced with a deadline

Chronic stress

Chronic stress occurs over a longer period of time and typically does not or, takes a long time to go away. These situations may include:

being bullied
financial difficulties
relationship problems
chronic health problems
overworked or burnout
caring for someone with complex needs
living in an unsafe environment
experiencing trauma such as violence in the home

Cumulative stress

Cumulative stress is when a number of stressors are occurring simultaneously or one straight after the other without the individual having the opportunity to fully recover.

What does stress do to the brain?

(World Health Organisation, 2023) say that stress is a state of worry or mental tension, typically caused by a difficult situation. Stress is a natural response that all humans experience when addressing challenges or threats in our lives. The way we respond to and cope with stress affects our overall wellbeing.

There are many different causes and types of stress, which can cause different reactions, signs, symptoms and coping behaviours for each individual.

If not managed appropriately or a stressful situation occurs frequently or over long periods of time, there can be great negative impacts on physical and mental health.

Figure 2. Stress on the brain

Premier neurology and wellness centre has listed some ways that stress can affect the human brain if left untreated (see figure 2):

impairs memory
kills brain cells
changes the brains structure
increased susceptibility to mental illness
improves or declines cognitive function


Scenario Figure 3. using mobile device and short videos as laughter therapy Marvin, a 49 year old man has been working as a manager at his workplace for the past two years, he works late and when he does get home, is still taking phone calls and doing admin work on his computer. He sits on the couch and barely acknowledges his wife and children. Marvin enjoys fishing, golf and driving his boat but does not regularly do any of these leisure activities or exercise. Marvin will eat breakfast and lunch but skip dinner most nights, instead, he drinks at least 7 standard alcoholic drinks before he goes to bed, even if he is left staying up alone. After Marvin finishes with his computer, he will turn to his phone to scroll through funny videos and often laugh to himself (see figure 1). During this time and, the day afterward, Marvin's mood seems to be vibrant and happy.

Marvin's main stressor could be assumed to be his occupation, however, this case study does not explore Marvin's home life, past traumas or other potential stressors in detail.The "problem" with Marvin's explained situation is that he is experiencing the following symptoms from constant high levels of stress:

loss of appetite
social withdrawal
increased alcohol consumption

Quiz

Psychological theories

Various theories have been developed to understand both stress and humour individually and can be used when developing a correlation between the two.

flight or fight response

Also known as the hyper arousal or the acute stress response, the flight or fight response (see figure 4) was first described in 1915 by Walter Bradford Cannon. It can be defined as a physiological reaction to perceived harmful event, attack or threat to survival.

The individuals perception of threat activates the sympathetic nervous system and, triggers an acute stress response that prepares the body to fight or flee the situation or stimuli.

figure 4. flight or fight response sequence of events + symptoms

During the flight or fight response, the following physiological changes to the body may occur, including increased:

blood flow
blood pressure and heart rate
blood sugar (glucose)
respiration to supply the oxygen necessary
speed of blood clotting function
muscle tension
dilated pupils

Relief Theory

Have you ever heard the saying "laughter is the best medicine"? well, relief theory suggests just that, it uses humour as a mechanism for bottled up emotions or tension through emotional relief.

One of the main contributors to relief theory is Herbert Spencer who has shared that laughter is a homeostatic mechanism as it reduces psychological stress and releases excess nervous energy and tension.

The relief theory is also supported by Sigmund Freud, who argued that people normally laugh when they reveal their suppressed desires.

When anticipating a negative situation, one may experienced heightened arousal which can then be reduced and relieved through laughter.

What is the relationship between humour and stress relief?

Stress is a universal human experience, however, is different for each person, therefore, the coping mechanisms used to relieve stress are different for each person.

Mbiriri, M. (2020) has found that laughter produces endorphin chemicals in the body and brain which makes us feel contentment. Laughter is an effective coping mechanism that allows our distress and negative emotions to escape.

Mbiriri has also discovered that laughter therapy, which involves using humour to help relieve pain and enhance mood, physiologically reduces the level of stress hormones, increases the level of endorphins and strengthens the immune system.

Wulandari, R. A., & Wardani, H. R. (2022). conducted a study on the stress conditions experienced by nurses caused by factors such as overworked and trauma. To reduce the impact that stress has on nurses and therefore on the quality of the nursing care, Wulandari and Wardani discovered that humour is one of the most effective tools to reduce stress, they emphasise the suggestion for the use of laughter as it is very easy to do and does not require expensive costs.

Did you know?

The psychological wellbeing scale includes six aspects of testing with seven items each (strongly agree > strongly disagree):

personal growth ( “I am not interested in activities that will expand my horizons”)
autonomy (“My decisions are not usually influenced by what everyone else is doing”)
self-acceptance (“I feel like many of the people I know have gotten more out of life than I have” )
environmental mastery (“I am good at juggling my time so that I can fit everything that needs to get done”)
purpose in life ( “I enjoy making plans for the future and working to make them a reality”)
and positive relations (“I don’t have many people who want to listen when I need to talk”)

Conclusion

Stress is a natural human experience that can occur at different levels for different individuals and situations. Not all stress is negative, some can increase motivation and productiveness and others, if left unmanaged, can have many negative physiological and psychological impacts on the body.

One way to manage or relieve stress is using humour through laughter therapy. Multiple studies have found that humour and laughter therapy can decrease stress hormones, negative emotions, anxiety and depression while increasing the quality of life and wellbeing.

References

Ajoke, O. O., & Sunday, I. E. (2020). The Association Between Sense of Humour and Psychological Well-being among Undergraduates. J Hum Ecol, 71(1-3), 1-7.

APS. Psychology.org.au. https://psychology.org.au/for-the-public/psychology-topics/stress/types-of-stress

Kashouty, R. (2021, September 24). 6 ways stress affects your brain. Premier Neurology & Wellness Center. https://premierneurologycenter.com/blog/6-ways-stress-affects-your-brain/

Mbiriri, M. (2020). Laughter Therapy as an Intervention to Promote Psychological Well-Being. J. Humanit. Soc. Policy, 6, 2020. Annabelle Taylor (discuss • contribs)

Mind UK. (2022, March). Signs and Symptoms of Stress. Mind. https://www.mind.org.uk/information-support/types-of-mental-health-problems/stress/signs-and-symptoms-of-stress/

Wikipedia Contributors. (2019a, February 22). Theories of humor. Wikipedia; Wikimedia Foundation. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theories_of_humor

Wikipedia Contributors. (2019b, April 22). Fight-or-flight response. Wikipedia; Wikimedia Foundation. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fight-or-flight_response

World Health Organization. (2023, February 21). Stress. World Health Organization; World Health Organisation. https://www.who.int/news-room/questions-and-answers/item/stress

Wulandari, R. A., & Wardani, H. R. (2022). The Effect of Humor as a Stress Management for Nurses Working in Hospital: Systematic review. D'Nursing and Health Journal (DNHJ), 3(1), 55-63.

External links

Make stress your friend (informational video)
Laughter is medicine (informational video)
Healing benefits of laughter (U.S department of veteran affairs)
Laughter therapy (howstuffworks)