Richard Hogan: Laughter is medicinal, but when was the last time you had a dose of it?

When we hit our 40s, we can have less laughter in our lives — and we suffer as a result

'I think we have all been lucky enough to find that person that tickles our funny bone, or brings out the childish sense of humour in us. They are a treasure not to let disappear.' iStock

When was the last time you really laughed? I mean full on belly laughing, none of this half-hearted chuckling but real hard laughter.

Most people think eating and exercising are the only important ingredients for a healthy life, and yes, they are important, but laughing and having levity in your life is such a vital part of a healthy lifestyle.

When we laugh, we are essentially sending important messages back through our vagal nerve that all is going well in life. It’s a full body experience. That’s why the giggle at the funeral is therapeutic; in such sadness, levity can exist. We need that as humans.

I remember being in fourth class and myself and my friend were messing in the cloakroom after school one afternoon.

We thought we were the only ones left in the school when all of a sudden one of the strictest teachers came out of nowhere. She gave out to us and left.

At that moment, I told my friend a joke about the pope that had been doing the rounds in the school. I can’t really remember it now, but we both broke out laughing hysterically. The teacher turned up again, roaring at us to get out of the school. 

We laughed all the way back up the muddy patch and into my estate. I told my brother the same joke and no laughter. It was a good insight into humour, I learned how you deliver the joke and your audience really matters to how the joke is received.

The next morning, that teacher was wating for me as I got into school. She brought me into the principal’s office and asked me what was so funny the previous evening. I didn’t want to tell her my pope joke — it was a bit racy and I didn’t think she’d appreciate it.

She said how disappointed she was to think that we were both laughing at her after she gave out to us. I tried in vain to convince her we weren’t, she just told me she thought I was better than that.

I was stuck, my 10-year-old brain couldn’t think of anything to get me out of the situation besides a white lie. Desperately searching for some way out of this misunderstanding, I told her we were not laughing at her but that my co-conspirator was so nervous after she gave out to us that he wet himself. 

She immediately softened, and told me she had gotten it wrong. She thanked me for my honesty and off I went back into the class, sitting next to my friend, the pants-wetter.

On our way out to the yard, we both passed the teacher in question, and she said: “Don’t worry at all, Jason, that happens to everyone’.” He looked at me incredulously. I just shrugged my shoulders, pretending I hadn’t a clue what she was on about.

Later that afternoon, as we left school, he asked me again what did I think she meant by what she said, and I confessed my crime. We both laughed so much walking home we did wet ourselves.

The next morning, coming down through Shamrock Lawn in Douglas, we met up again on our way to school, and laughed all the way there too. And later in the yard and again heading home. We laughed and laughed about it. I still do from time to time. I told my brother what had happened and this time he was roaring laughing. I got the timing right.

Laughter is medicinal. I think when we hit our 40s we can have less laughter in our lives. Life can become a little more serious. Our parents are aging, or kids are moving into adolescence, bills to pay, but more importantly, we might be a little too tired or busy to meet up with friends. So, laughter stops.

And we suffer as a result of that, but we don’t realise the cause of that suffering is lack of laughter or levity. We put it down to energy levels, too much work, burn-out, etc.

Staying connected to friends you can have a laugh with is vitally important for your health.

One of the tasks I challenge clients with when I’m working in this area is to think about a friend they really enjoyed as a young adult, and if they have lost them over the course of the last number of years, with the busyness of it all, to consider reaching out and connecting with them once again.

I think we have all been lucky enough to find that person that tickles our funny bone, or brings out the childish sense of humour in us. They are a treasure not to let disappear.

Think about that question I posed at the start of this column, when was the last time you laughed out loud? Think about the person that made you laugh like that, and hang around with them a little more. It could be the best remedy for your mental health.