Forget coffee breaks, these days more people in marketing and media should take a humour pause: micro-moments of laughter that can be as effective as a brisk walk or even a meditation session. Why? Research indicates that mirth is more than a mood booster, and that a belly laugh where your sides ache is a scientifically validated coping strategy.
Humour helps people distance themselves from problems, increase positive emotions, and reduce stress. In fact, laughter at work has been linked to nearly 40 per cent reduction in stress and stronger interpersonal bonds. Event speaker, MC and founder of Clean Comedians Adam Christing has just written a book called The Laughter Factor.
Humour can break the ice at work without crossing the line – Christing
Christing has spent three decades helping companies use humour to boost performance, creativity and team work. In his book, he outlines ways laughter can reverse setbacks, and the science behind moments of fun and their impact on the brain. He says that while stress-busting tactics can often fail, humour tends to have a different, more positive impact.
Psychology
Dr Simon Orpher, a general practitioner who became a Labour MP in last year’s British general election, would tend to agree. He believes patients who come to the NHS with mild or moderate depression – or are obliged to wait too long for counselling – can be steered away from medication by making them laugh. Even the psychology of laughter is a plus.
When people laugh, Orpher said, they increase the pressure in their thoracic region and the intercostal muscles located between the ribs release an opiod-like substance. In other words, your sides ache, you enjoy a belly laugh and it’s good for you. As the anxious pixie with a long hat and ears said: “So long as you’ve got your elf, that’s the main thing.”
