Adults need to laugh more to improve quality of life

Hello, my name is Matt Poston, and I am an addict.

Some days are better than others. Some days the cravings are not as bad, but some days can get to be rough. It is almost as if I am not a whole person unless I get my fix on a daily basis. I hit bottom, and can become an intolerable person to be around.

I am a comedy addict (what? Did I strike you as an angel dust freak?).

If I don’t get an hour or two of Comedy Central in a day, chances are I’m not going to be as "peppy" a person as I could be. "The Daily Show" and reruns of "Saturday Night Live" (minus Molly Shannon…I can’t stand that girl) are as crucial to me as three square meals (by "square" I mean any combination of Oops! All Berries Cap’n Crunch, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and macaroni and cheese) and 10 hours of sleep.

And according to some scientists, laughter can be beneficial to anyone’s health and well being, not just my own.

Recent studies have shown that laughter has both physiological and psychological benefits. Laughter has been shown to increase respiration, increase circulation to the brain, boost the immune system, release tension from muscles, release endorphins (your body’s natural painkillers), and (surprise, surprise) give one an overall sense of happiness.

The problem is this: as adults (yup, we’re adults…OK, sorta), we tend to laugh less and less the older we get. Little kids laugh all the time. Experts put the number around 400 laughs a day, but if you’re dealing with a kid that needs Ritalin as desperately as I need money, the number of laughs per day can be mind-boggling.

And that’s why you don’t see first graders having to deal with things like depression, substance abuse, or suicide. They’re not slitting their wrists or slurping down hemlock because they have the enviable ability to laugh off the bad things that happen to them. Granted, the worst that could have happened to us as children was Big Bird being mowed down in a hail of hunter’s bullets, but should that have ever happened, we still had 40 Muppets to choose from. Like Grover.

But adults don’t laugh nearly as much. The average American adult laughs 15 times per day. Sure, we have more complicated matters to deal with, but have our lives become so much more gloomy than they were when we were 6 years old? Probably not. So why the long faces?

We take ourselves too seriously. We let little things that shouldn’t get us down turn into gigantic tragedies. Who cares if you failed your math quiz? Overslept and missed your 7:30 a.m. MGMT 200 lecture? Big deal. Puked in front of that guy/girl you like at the party? If they bolt, it was never meant to be.

These are the kinds of things in your life that are actually worth laughing at. We would be much better off as individuals if we mentally "re-framed" all the so-called "negative" events in our lives and found the humor in them.

And the experts agree. Studies have shown that people who laugh more than average are generally happier than all of you who are too serious to laugh at yourselves.

The trick, I’ve learned, is this: Life is rough. One hundred percent of humans die. So get over it. It is easier to make the most out of what you’ve got while you’re here if you don’t have the weight of the world dragging you down.

So what can you do to increase your laughs per day ratio? For starters, start hanging around your friends more. Studies have shown that adults are three times as likely to laugh in group settings than they are alone.

Get a pet. From personal experience, I can tell you that dogs are great. Especially my dog, Shelby (I’ll take the time here to officially declare her the "Coolest Dog in Indiana"). Unfortunately for me, I had to leave her at home, but when I do go home for a visit, she is a source of endless entertainment.

And the most obvious is to indulge in comedy in the many mediums available to you. Go to comedy clubs in Indy or Chicago. Download some Bill Hicks or George Carlin off Audiogalaxy. Read Dave Barry’s column. Or catch the latest flick at the theater (I suggest Kevin Smith’s "Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back." Some critics might not have liked it, but those critics are clown shoes. The movie is hilarious).

Your life is not as bad as you think. Hell, any day you wake up breathing is a good day in my book. But for those days you’re feeling a little down, just remember this quote from one of my favorite comedians, Norm MacDonald: "Laughter is the best medicine. Unless you’re diabetic. Then insulin is the best medicine."

Matt Poston is a sophomore in the School of Management. He laughs more than a sugar-crazed kindergartner, and to be honest, it’s scary. He can be reached at opinions@purdueexponent.org.

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