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Learn to Laugh

Anxiety can be very difficult, stressful, and downright traumatic. Many times, it is hard for those with anxiety to remember even the last time they had a fun or lighthearted moment. All seems doom and gloom, and with good reason. One of the most powerful stress-reducers and methods for leading a balanced lifestyle is laughter. Clichés can be true or untrue, but one that is true and that is useful is, “Laughter – the best medicine,” which has been made popular by the magazine Reader’s Digest.

Laughter, much like anything, can be used in many different ways, both positive and negative. One way that laughter can be misused and be made harmful is when people tease and laugh at others so that those other people feel demeaned or put down. Another way that laughter can be misused is when the evil villain in an action movie laughs to taunt the hero into making a life-threatening mistake. These types of laughter can be extremely psychologically destructive on their victims, and many of those afflicted by social anxiety can certainly relate with certain life experiences that reflect this type of laughter.

Fortunately, this is not the type of laughter that is being discussed, but people still need to have awareness of it. Besides the previous kind of laughter that harms people and causes separation, there is the kind of laughter that bonds people and helps them to heal. For example, everyone can remember a time when they made a silly mistake of some kind and someone laughed with them saying something to the effect of, “Ya, I did that one just last week too.” This is the type of laughter that makes a person feel validated, like he or she is a human that makes mistakes just like all other humans, and this is a very healing and healthy type of laughter; unfortunately, this kind of laughter seems to be the least common kind. The other type of healthy laughter, and the type that is most pertinent to this article, is that laughter where one is able to laugh at him or herself, realizing the silliness and absurdity of the situation. For example, a person may now laugh at the fact that he or she used be so scared of talking to even just one stranger. This type of laughter is an indication that this person is now over this particular challenge of life, has dealt with it in a healthy manner, and is now ready to move on.

For those that struggle with social anxiety, many will recall previous times in life where the people around them told them to, “Stop being so serious,” or to, “Take things less seriously.” This is very difficult for a person with an anxiety problem that is out of control, as life has been little, if any, fun up to this point. In this case, the people attempting to give advice and provide guidance to the anxiety sufferer are absolutely right that being too serious is indeed a bad thing, but simply telling someone to stop being so serious is not a way to cure the problem. Very often, finding the humor in a particular situation is very healthy and self-affirming. Laughter helps people to let go and instead enjoy life. Indeed, people who have a hard time laughing are not in a good place in life. So, in any situation, try to find the humor, no matter how hard it might be. Humor is very healing and is just another technique that will help one to move forward in anxiety recovery.

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