Depression Can't Win Against Good Humor

One of the best therapies to eliminate depression is with a sense of humor. Laughter cures diseases and strengthen the immune system. That’s why we shouldn’t stop smiling even if we are very sad. Some say “look at the glass half full” in the situation, others are optimistic…but the truth is that laughing chases away many evils.

Depression is a common reason people decide to see psychologists. Therapy can help one understand the reasons for this state and provide the tools for the person suffering in order to be able to get out of it.

Depression doesn’t start if we don’t strengthen it

This may be obvious if we read it, but not if we want to implement it. If we are depressed, we are more likely to allow ourselves to add more sad and distressing feelings than pleasant emotions. Crying or demotivation are more frequent than laughter and energy.

But try to change this. How? Maintaining good humor that goes “through the roof”. Laughing at our problems is a great remedy. Many studies have shown that laughter has a direct influence on how we feel and the attitude we have to address our difficulties. You could say that it is an ingredient that works very well for all the negative moods.

If instead we reinforce depression and enter a kind of vicious circle in which laziness and sadness don’t do anything but add even more sadness and laziness, it will be very difficult afterwards to hop over that tall wall we built. Remember that depression, more than a disease, is a state that does not go away without exercising one’s will which serves as a motor to start activities that we don’t want to do to begin with.

Depression and disease

Being sad is not just a horrible feeling in your chest or a knot in your throat. It affects every level of our body, both mentally and spiritually. But it can also have negative consequences on our physical health. A depressed person is more vulnerable to disease and to catching all the viruses that go swarming through the air.

It is common to be cold, unable to heal a wound quickly, have pimply skin…all as a result of being depressed. Not feeling like eating,  trying to sleep all day and lacking energy to do any kind of activity, sooner or later also affects our health. It is therefore essential that depression goes as far away as possible if we want a strong and healthy immune system.

Depression and positive therapy

Once depression is determined or diagnosed, the next step is to find a technique to solve or reduce the problem. In the area of psychology there are many therapies that can help, such as “positive therapy” which is finding all of the resources that are beneficial to the patient.

For example it is advisable to keep a “gratitude journal” where they write all the good things they should be grateful for: their family, partner, work, home, health, friends, etc.

In this gratitude journal it is better be as concrete as we can in our notes. For example, instead of writing you are grateful “to have wonderful parents” is much better to write that you are grateful “because you have a mother and/or father who will listen and try to understand you”. So you can fill it with “I am grateful because they care about me” or “that they ask about me and look after me.”

The benefits of good humor and gratitude

Thus, good humor and a sense of gratitude are two potentially effective vaccines against depression. It will be much more difficult to fall into the vicious circle that we spoke about earlier if we use positive filters when looking at reality. This will affect our mood the most.

We’ve all been in the situation of looking at someone and being surprised by the humor, even if it seems they have reason to be sad. It is these people, who accept that they cannot change and also those who animate it are the ones who best train their resilience during low moments.

It is not that this attitude is good for them, even though it is. It is also reinforcing the social circle for support that they count on. A sense of humor and optimism are not only contagious, but they make the times we spend with people enjoyable.

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