There is increasing evidence that there’s a strong correlation between addiction and stress. Many addictions actually develop as an unconscious attempt to alleviate the chronic stress in a person’s life. Although addictive behaviors may provide a very brief relief from feeling stressed, they do nothing to get rid of the underlying anxiety or its cause. It’s all still there, requiring more and more “medication.”
Unfortunately, extended elevations of stress hormones, like Cortisol, act like acid in the body, especially affecting the brain and memory. They can cause all kinds of physical and cognitive issues. Once the hormone levels rise, it is extremely difficult to lower them medically. There are no magic pills or special compounds that counteract the negative effects of Cortisol. Thankfully, however, there IS a very simple way to reduce the damaging levels of stress hormones. It is laughter.
Yes, laughter is one of the few things that has shown to be helpful in reducing Cortisol in the body. In his book Deadly Emotions, Don Colbert, M.D. talks about one small study that monitored a group of men who watched a funny video. After just one video and a few good belly laughs, their cortisol levels fell a dramatic 39%; adrenaline levels fell 70%; the feel good hormone, endorphine rose 27% and growth hormone levels (often called the “youth hormone”) rose an amazing 87%!
Interestingly, our body can’t discern between real and perceived danger, and it can’t tell the difference between real and forced laughter. I both cases it responds the same whether it is real or not. So . . . fake it ‘til you make it! You’ll still be doing something good for yourself.
Laughter has also been shown to:
• lower blood pressure
• increase immunoglobulin A, which helps protect against respiratory tract infections
• increase gamma interferon – the immune systems defense against viruses
• increase B cells that produce antibodies against harmful bacteria
• increase complement 2, a combination of proteins that act as a catalyst in antibody reactions.
It’s possible to choose joy and laughter even in our midst of our most difficult situations. Start with a smile. It’s virtually impossible to stay in a down mood when you’ve got a smile on your face. That simple change in our countenance changes our whole perspective. Give it a try. You may be surprised.
It’s important to remember that happiness is fleeting. Happiness comes from external events or factors including what others say and do. Joy, however, comes from contentment that is inside a person. It is not dependent on external factors, but on an inner sense of value, purpose, fulfillment or satisfaction. Interestingly enough, those are some of the very things that can help eliminate the source of much of the stress we are trying to combat.
“A merry heart doeth good like a medicine” —Proverbs 17:22
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