{"id":14010,"date":"2016-02-04T11:00:21","date_gmt":"2016-02-04T11:00:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/counselling\/?p=14010"},"modified":"2023-03-11T19:04:34","modified_gmt":"2023-03-11T19:04:34","slug":"laughter-does-it-really-improve-your-psychological-health","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/counselling\/laughter-does-it-really-improve-your-psychological-health.htm","title":{"rendered":"Laughter \u2013 Does it really improve your psychological health?"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"attachment_14013\" style=\"width: 410px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/counselling\/wp-content\/uploads\/4675506211_04aa915141.jpg\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-14013\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-14013\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-14013\" src=\"https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/counselling\/wp-content\/uploads\/4675506211_04aa915141-400x266.jpg\" alt=\"laughter\" width=\"400\" height=\"266\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/counselling\/wp-content\/uploads\/4675506211_04aa915141-400x266.jpg 400w, https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/counselling\/wp-content\/uploads\/4675506211_04aa915141.jpg 500w, https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/counselling\/wp-content\/uploads\/4675506211_04aa915141-180x120.jpg 180w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-14013\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">By: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/chrishuggins\/4675506211\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\" \">Chris Huggins<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n<p>As babies, we laugh even before we talk. But why do we laugh? And what affect does laughter have on our brains, and our mental and psychological health?<\/p>\n<h2>Why you laugh<\/h2>\n<p>The assumption might be that laughter is about things being funny. But only 10% of laughter is about jokes.<\/p>\n<p>Instead, <strong>laughter seems to be primarily about relationships.<\/strong> Neuroscientist Robert R. Provine, who studied laughter for over 10 years and wrote the book <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Laughter: a Scientific Investigation,<\/span> discovered that <strong>laughter is not a learned behaviour. Instead, laughter is like an instinctive language we are born understanding, that seems to have the purpose of bonding us to other humans.<\/strong><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"color: #800080;\">5 psychological benefits of laughing<\/span><\/h2>\n<p>So how can laughter benefit your emotional and mental health?<\/p>\n<h3>1. Laughter helps you bond with others.<\/h3>\n<p>As mentioned, Provine&#8217;s research showed that we use laughter to connect to others. This was backed up by <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/link.springer.com\/article\/10.1007\/s12110-015-9225-8\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">a study<\/a><\/span> published in 2015. Researchers at University College London found that <strong>laughter causes us to open up more to others, making us more prone to sharing intimate details.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>In a group of 112 students from Oxford university, those who had just watched a comedy clip were more likely to share personal information than those who did not.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_14014\" style=\"width: 410px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-14014\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-14014\" src=\"https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/counselling\/wp-content\/uploads\/5515038358_09f4285956-400x266.jpg\" alt=\"Benefits of Laughter\" width=\"400\" height=\"266\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/counselling\/wp-content\/uploads\/5515038358_09f4285956-400x266.jpg 400w, https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/counselling\/wp-content\/uploads\/5515038358_09f4285956.jpg 500w, https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/counselling\/wp-content\/uploads\/5515038358_09f4285956-180x120.jpg 180w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-14014\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">By: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/habibaha\/5515038358\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\" \">Habibah Agianda<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n<h3>2. Laughter lowers stress.<\/h3>\n<p>Researchers at the University of Maryland School of Medicine in Baltimore did a <a href=\"https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20140221003548\/https:\/\/umm.edu\/news-and-events\/news-releases\/2005\/school-of-medicine-study-shows-laughter-helps-blood-vessels-function-better\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">study that linked laughter<\/span> <\/a><strong>to <a href=\"\/stress-management-counselling-london.htm\">lowered stress<\/a> in the body<\/strong>. Showing participants film clips that were mentally stressful caused reduced arterial flow, whereas film clips that caused laughter increased blood flow and improved the function of blood vessels, both of which leave the body more relaxed. <strong>So laughter had the effect of fighting off stress.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>And another <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/24682001\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">study, this time on older adults<\/a><\/span>, showed that laughter lowered the &#8216;stress hormone&#8217; cortisol (for more on cortisol and its link to stress read our article on <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/counselling\/fight-or-flight-response.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">the fight or flight response<\/a><\/span>).<\/p>\n<h3>3 Laughter can improve your memory.<\/h3>\n<p>The <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/24682001\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">same study<\/a><\/span> at California&#8217;s Linda Loma university that showed reduced cortisol levels also showed that laughter improved short-term memory. <strong>Participants who watched funny videos had more than double the memory recall of the group that sat in silence. <\/strong><\/p>\n<h3>4. It makes you feel good.<\/h3>\n<p><strong>Laughter makes you feel good because of its affect on the chemicals in your body.<\/strong> As well as lowering your cortisol it has an affect on the production of endorphins, a chemical that gives you a happy buzz.<\/p>\n<p>A<span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/findlab.stanford.edu\/Publications\/Humor_neuron.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> Stanford research team<\/a><\/span> also found <strong>a connection between laughter and dopamine, the neurotransmitter that regulates mood and motivation<\/strong> amongst other things, and is also known for creating a feeling of pleasure. Watching funny cartoons was found to trigger activity in the the brain&#8217;s limbic system which is involved in dopamine regulation.<\/p>\n<h3>5. Laughter can help you attract a relationship.<\/h3>\n<p>Robert R. Provine&#8217;s research also showed that laughter has some gender bias. In conversations between men and women, <strong>women were 126% more likely to be the ones laughing and men were more likely to be doing the laugh-getting. <\/strong><\/p>\n<p>When Provine&#8217;s team looked at internet dating ads, they found women were more likely to be looking for a sense of humour in a partner and men more likely to suggest they could offer one. So your ability to laugh at a man&#8217;s jokes, or make a woman laugh, might be part of how you are attracting mates.<\/p>\n<h2>But are these studies saying I have to laugh to be happy?<\/h2>\n<div id=\"attachment_14016\" style=\"width: 410px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/counselling\/wp-content\/uploads\/8229463074_469641a520.jpg\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-14016\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-14016\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-14016\" src=\"https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/counselling\/wp-content\/uploads\/8229463074_469641a520-400x266.jpg\" alt=\"laughter medicine\" width=\"400\" height=\"266\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/counselling\/wp-content\/uploads\/8229463074_469641a520-400x266.jpg 400w, https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/counselling\/wp-content\/uploads\/8229463074_469641a520.jpg 500w, https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/counselling\/wp-content\/uploads\/8229463074_469641a520-180x120.jpg 180w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-14016\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">By: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/dorofo2504\/8229463074\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\" \">Doug Ford<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n<p><strong>Studies on laughter to date are not foolproof.<\/strong> They often do not separate humour from laughter \u2013 which one is it that is giving the measured affect? And they have to date tended to involve small samples.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><span style=\"color: #666699;\">So no, it cannot be concluded that you must laugh to enjoy psychological wellbeing, or that laughing alone would not be enough to counter depression, or change your life.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><strong>Laughter is, however, increasingly seen as a wise and beneficial addition to a <\/strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/counselling\/self-care-and-depression.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">self-care regime<\/a><\/span>. In fact Dr. Michael Miller, one of the author&#8217;s of a<a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pmc\/articles\/PMC1860773\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> recent study on laughter&#8217;s benefits on coronary heart disease<\/a>, suggests in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pmc\/articles\/PMC2762283\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">an overview on laughter research<\/span><\/a> that a time might come when \u201ceveryone gets 15 to 20 minutes of laughter a day in the same way they recommend at least 30 minutes of <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/counselling\/exercise-and-depression-does-it-really-help.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">exercise<\/a><\/span>\u201d.<\/p>\n<h2>5 new tips to make laughter more a part of your daily routine<\/h2>\n<p><strong><span style=\"color: #800080;\">1. Keep Good Company. <\/span><\/strong>If you are always hanging around people who<span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/counselling\/negative-thinking.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> focus on the negative<\/a><\/span> or never laugh, you might want to consider why you choose such peers, or try meeting new people with a different mindset to experience the difference it makes for you.<\/p>\n<p><strong><span style=\"color: #800080;\">2. Monitor your media intake.<\/span><\/strong> The news doesn&#8217;t sell by focussing on the positive or the humorous, and tends to only laugh at others instead of with them. Start to take note of how much time you spend each day reading or listening to news or browsing <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/counselling\/negative-effects-of-facebook.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">social media<\/a><\/span>, and try cutting back to see if it helps.<\/p>\n<p><strong><span style=\"color: #800080;\">3. Try something new you are not naturally good at.<\/span> <\/strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/counselling\/how-to-stop-being-a-perfectionist.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Perfectionism<\/a><\/span> is the opposite of humour, and only doing things we insist on doing well at means we are so focused on achievement we don&#8217;t relax and laugh. Find a friend who knows how to have fun and try something totally different \u2013 a salsa class if you are not a natural dancer, a life drawing class if you never progressed past stick figures.<\/p>\n<p><strong><span style=\"color: #800080;\">4. Take improv classes.<\/span> <\/strong>It might sound odd, but improv classes can come with a host of benefits. As well as seeing you laugh with others and maybe at yourself, they are said to <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/counselling\/building-confidence.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">build confidence<\/a><\/span> and social skills.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #800080;\"><strong>5. Fake it.<\/strong><\/span> If you can&#8217;t fake laughter, fake a smile. It&#8217;s been discovered that your mind will take cues from your body, so a smile triggers the brain to think it&#8217;s happier (learn more in our piece on the power of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/counselling\/the-power-of-body-language.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">body language<\/a> to change moods). You might even find yourself naturally laughing before you know it.<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Do you have a tip for how to enjoy more laughter in life even if you are not the funny type? Share below. <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>As babies, we laugh even before we talk. But why do we laugh? And what affect does laughter have on our brains, and our mental and psychological health? Why you laugh The assumption might be that laughter is about things being funny. But only 10% of laughter is about jokes. Instead, laughter seems to be [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":14013,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","_lmt_disableupdate":"yes","_lmt_disable":"no","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14010","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-depression","has_thumb"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.0 (Yoast SEO v27.0) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Laughter \u2013 Does it really improve your psychological health? - Harley Therapy\u2122 Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Laughter - could it improve your low moods? It can, and it might also lower your stress, improve your memory, and help your relationships. Learn 5 tips how\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/counselling\/laughter-does-it-really-improve-your-psychological-health.htm\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Laughter \u2013 Does it really improve your psychological health?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Laughter - could it improve your low moods? It can, and it might also lower your stress, improve your memory, and help your relationships. Learn 5 tips how\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/counselling\/laughter-does-it-really-improve-your-psychological-health.htm\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Harley Therapy\u2122 Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/harleytherapy\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-02-04T11:00:21+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-03-11T19:04:34+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/counselling\/wp-content\/uploads\/4675506211_04aa915141.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"500\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"333\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Andrea M. Darcy\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@https:\/\/twitter.com\/AndreaMDarcy\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@HarleyTherapy\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Andrea M. Darcy\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"6 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/counselling\/laughter-does-it-really-improve-your-psychological-health.htm\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/counselling\/laughter-does-it-really-improve-your-psychological-health.htm\",\"name\":\"Laughter \u2013 Does it really improve your psychological health? - Harley Therapy\u2122 Blog\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/counselling\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/counselling\/laughter-does-it-really-improve-your-psychological-health.htm#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/counselling\/laughter-does-it-really-improve-your-psychological-health.htm#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/counselling\/wp-content\/uploads\/4675506211_04aa915141.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-02-04T11:00:21+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-03-11T19:04:34+00:00\",\"description\":\"Laughter - could it improve your low moods? It can, and it might also lower your stress, improve your memory, and help your relationships. Learn 5 tips how\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/counselling\/laughter-does-it-really-improve-your-psychological-health.htm#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/counselling\/laughter-does-it-really-improve-your-psychological-health.htm\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/counselling\/laughter-does-it-really-improve-your-psychological-health.htm#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/counselling\/wp-content\/uploads\/4675506211_04aa915141.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/counselling\/wp-content\/uploads\/4675506211_04aa915141.jpg\",\"width\":500,\"height\":333,\"caption\":\"By: Chris Huggins\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/counselling\/laughter-does-it-really-improve-your-psychological-health.htm#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/counselling\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Laughter \u2013 Does it really improve your psychological health?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/counselling\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/\",\"name\":\"Harley Therapy\u2122 Blog\",\"description\":\"Self-Help for Better Emotional Health\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/counselling\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/counselling\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/counselling\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Harley Therapy - Psychotherapy & Counselling\",\"alternateName\":\"Harley Therapy\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/counselling\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/images\/logo.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/counselling\/wp-content\/uploads\/cropped-harleytherapypsychotherapycounsellinglogo.png\",\"width\":512,\"height\":512,\"caption\":\"Harley Therapy - Psychotherapy & Counselling\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/counselling\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/harleytherapy\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/HarleyTherapy\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/harley-therapy\",\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/c\/HarleyTherapyCoUk\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/harleytherapy\/\",\"https:\/\/uk.trustpilot.com\/review.harleytherapy.co.uk\",\"https:\/\/www.reviews.co.uk\/company-reviews\/store\/harleytherapy-co-uk\",\"https:\/\/www.crunchbase.com\/organization\/harley-therapy-psychotherapy-counselling\"]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Laughter \u2013 Does it really improve your psychological health? - Harley Therapy\u2122 Blog","description":"Laughter - could it improve your low moods? It can, and it might also lower your stress, improve your memory, and help your relationships. Learn 5 tips how","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/counselling\/laughter-does-it-really-improve-your-psychological-health.htm","og_locale":"en_GB","og_type":"article","og_title":"Laughter \u2013 Does it really improve your psychological health?","og_description":"Laughter - could it improve your low moods? It can, and it might also lower your stress, improve your memory, and help your relationships. Learn 5 tips how","og_url":"https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/counselling\/laughter-does-it-really-improve-your-psychological-health.htm","og_site_name":"Harley Therapy\u2122 Blog","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/harleytherapy","article_published_time":"2016-02-04T11:00:21+00:00","article_modified_time":"2023-03-11T19:04:34+00:00","og_image":[{"width":500,"height":333,"url":"https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/counselling\/wp-content\/uploads\/4675506211_04aa915141.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Andrea M. Darcy","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@https:\/\/twitter.com\/AndreaMDarcy","twitter_site":"@HarleyTherapy","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Andrea M. Darcy","Est. reading time":"6 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/counselling\/laughter-does-it-really-improve-your-psychological-health.htm","url":"https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/counselling\/laughter-does-it-really-improve-your-psychological-health.htm","name":"Laughter \u2013 Does it really improve your psychological health? - Harley Therapy\u2122 Blog","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/counselling\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/counselling\/laughter-does-it-really-improve-your-psychological-health.htm#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/counselling\/laughter-does-it-really-improve-your-psychological-health.htm#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/counselling\/wp-content\/uploads\/4675506211_04aa915141.jpg","datePublished":"2016-02-04T11:00:21+00:00","dateModified":"2023-03-11T19:04:34+00:00","description":"Laughter - could it improve your low moods? It can, and it might also lower your stress, improve your memory, and help your relationships. Learn 5 tips how","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/counselling\/laughter-does-it-really-improve-your-psychological-health.htm#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/counselling\/laughter-does-it-really-improve-your-psychological-health.htm"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/counselling\/laughter-does-it-really-improve-your-psychological-health.htm#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/counselling\/wp-content\/uploads\/4675506211_04aa915141.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/counselling\/wp-content\/uploads\/4675506211_04aa915141.jpg","width":500,"height":333,"caption":"By: Chris Huggins"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/counselling\/laughter-does-it-really-improve-your-psychological-health.htm#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/counselling"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Laughter \u2013 Does it really improve your psychological health?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/counselling\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/","name":"Harley Therapy\u2122 Blog","description":"Self-Help for Better Emotional Health","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/counselling\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/counselling\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/counselling\/#organization","name":"Harley Therapy - Psychotherapy & Counselling","alternateName":"Harley Therapy","url":"https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/counselling\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/images\/logo.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/counselling\/wp-content\/uploads\/cropped-harleytherapypsychotherapycounsellinglogo.png","width":512,"height":512,"caption":"Harley Therapy - Psychotherapy & Counselling"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/counselling\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/harleytherapy","https:\/\/x.com\/HarleyTherapy","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/harley-therapy","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/c\/HarleyTherapyCoUk","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/harleytherapy\/","https:\/\/uk.trustpilot.com\/review.harleytherapy.co.uk","https:\/\/www.reviews.co.uk\/company-reviews\/store\/harleytherapy-co-uk","https:\/\/www.crunchbase.com\/organization\/harley-therapy-psychotherapy-counselling"]}]}},"modified_by":"Marvee Franco","uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/counselling\/wp-content\/uploads\/4675506211_04aa915141.jpg",500,333,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/counselling\/wp-content\/uploads\/4675506211_04aa915141-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/counselling\/wp-content\/uploads\/4675506211_04aa915141-400x266.jpg",400,266,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/counselling\/wp-content\/uploads\/4675506211_04aa915141.jpg",500,333,false],"large":["https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/counselling\/wp-content\/uploads\/4675506211_04aa915141-500x333.jpg",500,333,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/counselling\/wp-content\/uploads\/4675506211_04aa915141.jpg",500,333,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/counselling\/wp-content\/uploads\/4675506211_04aa915141.jpg",500,333,false],"post-thumbnail":["https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/counselling\/wp-content\/uploads\/4675506211_04aa915141-200x200.jpg",200,200,true],"featured":["https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/counselling\/wp-content\/uploads\/4675506211_04aa915141-200x200.jpg",200,200,true],"related":["https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/counselling\/wp-content\/uploads\/4675506211_04aa915141-180x120.jpg",180,120,true],"widgetthumb":["https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/counselling\/wp-content\/uploads\/4675506211_04aa915141-50x50.jpg",50,50,true],"slider":["https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/counselling\/wp-content\/uploads\/4675506211_04aa915141-500x200.jpg",500,200,true]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"Andrea M. Darcy","author_link":"#"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"As babies, we laugh even before we talk. But why do we laugh? And what affect does laughter have on our brains, and our mental and psychological health? Why you laugh The assumption might be that laughter is about things being funny. But only 10% of laughter is about jokes. Instead, laughter seems to be&hellip;","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/counselling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14010","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/counselling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/counselling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/counselling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/counselling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14010"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/counselling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14010\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":138030,"href":"https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/counselling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14010\/revisions\/138030"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/counselling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14013"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/counselling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14010"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/counselling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14010"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/counselling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14010"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}