Comedy and Laughter

Comedy is an amazing tool for a variety of reasons. It has been proven that comedy provides many advantages to both physical and mental health. Comedy can also help strengthen relationships and improve confidence in social situations. This helps with confidence and communication which are important traits to have in both personal and professional life.

People associate comedy with mental health as there are numerous studies on the positive effects that laughter has on the brain. Mental health benefits include:

Reduces anxiety and depression

Boosts confidence and self-esteem

Helps dealing with anger

As well as better mental health, comedy also does great things for the body. Physical benefits gained from comedy and laughter include:

- Prevention of heart disease

- Relaxation of muscles

- Lowering of stress hormones

Allowing yourself to be more spontaneous and express yourself how you want to is one way to let comedy and laughter into your laugh. Using life experiences and incorporating it into your comedy allows people to learn about you as well as your approach to life.

Laughter itself is a great tool for the body and mind as well as comedy. Not only does it create comedy in the moment but it can also help steer you into a positive mindset. Some of the benefits of laughter include:

- Burns calories

- Dissolves negative emotions

- Shifts perspective by making you see potentially negative experiences as positive ones

The Comedy Trust provide an array of different courses catered to various demographics to help deal with certain issues through the medium of comedy. One of our schemes is the Feeling Funny mental health and well-being course for me aged 18 and over. Over six weeks, the organisation aims to improve participants’ self-esteem, confidence and overall well-being and mental health through the use of stand-up comedy. Feeling Funny was launched to combat the stigma that surrounds men’s mental health as men are statistically less likely to seek professional help regarding their well-being in comparison to women. In addition, we want to combat the alarming evidence that suicide is the single highest killer of men under the age of 45 in the UK with over 76% of all suicides in recent years being men (ONS, NISRA, GRO 2014). This course allows participants to openly talk, laugh and bond with like-minded people in a safe and friendly environment.

Read the stories of our inspirational past participants about their time with us on this course.

For more information about Feeling Funny, head to our website: http://thecomedytrust.com/courses/mental-health/feeling-funny/