Laughter as a Healing Tool: Exploring Its Therapeutic Benefits
Discover how laughter therapy can significantly reduce anxiety and improve life satisfaction, offering a simple and effective approach to mental well-being.
Laughter has long been recognized as a natural response to joy, but recent research highlights its potential as a powerful therapeutic modality. A comprehensive study by investigators at the University of Jaén analyzed data from 33 randomized controlled trials spanning over three decades, involving a total of 2,159 adults. The findings suggest that laughter therapy can significantly reduce anxiety levels and enhance overall life satisfaction.
These trials, conducted between 1991 and 2024, included diverse participants from healthcare and social settings, with a majority being women. Researchers used standardized measures called standardized mean differences (SMD) to quantify effects across different scales. The results indicated a large effect size for anxiety reduction (SMD = -0.83), implying a meaningful decrease in anxiety symptoms, and an even larger effect on increasing life satisfaction (SMD = 0.98).
Further subgroup analysis revealed that laughter yoga, a structured form of laughter therapy, produced large effects on anxiety (SMD = -1.02) and life satisfaction (SMD = 1.28). Interestingly, online laughter interventions showed minimal effects on anxiety, which could point to the importance of social interaction inherent in in-person therapy sessions.
The study’s authors suggest that laughter therapy could be a valuable addition to mental health strategies, particularly for anxiety management and improving overall well-being. However, they also call for more rigorous randomized controlled trials to further validate these findings and encourage the integration of laughter-based therapies into mainstream mental health practices.
This research underscores the potential of laughter as a simple, accessible, and effective tool to promote mental health. Incorporating laughter into daily routines might be a cheerful way to boost psychological resilience and life satisfaction, making it a promising area for future exploration in mental health and wellness.
Source: https://medicalxpress.com/news/2025-08-laughter-therapeutic-medicine.html
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