Laughter as a Coping Mechanism (Anh-Thu)
Don’t lie to me, we’ve all done this. Made some sort of joke about jumping off a cliff or making fun of ourselves as a way of helping ourselves cope. Humor can be an effective tool in assisting us with anxiety and other difficult experiences, but we have to distinguish between helpful and hurtful humor.
Here’s a quick guide:
Helpful: humor where you’re bonding with friends and joking about something together; being silly and goofing around; etc.
Harmful: self-deprecating humor; jokes where you’re attacking others; etc.
Honestly, some of my best memories involve laughing with people I care about. It’s how I developed bonds with them and thus developed confidence in myself as well. Here are some examples.
When my musician friends and I were doing crazy gymnastics as part of silly dances to “A Night on Bald Mountain”, a song about demons. We joked we mildly resembled demons too. We became best friends in only a few days off of random jokes like this.
My driving skills are often a source of argument with me and my friends. As in, I’ve been called a “danger to the streets” when all I did was not completely stop at a stop sign (I live in California, and besides who completely stops at stop signs when there’s no one around?). Me being short makes it worse because then I get told (jokingly of course) that maybe I need a booster seat. My friends and I show our affection by “bullying” each other, but we all know there are lines we’d never cross.
The time we used reversible stuffed octopus to cushion the fall for our egg drop project. The egg completely broke and covered our stuffed animals, to which my physics teacher said “Octo-Mom is dead” and tried to throw it in the trash. My physics team couldn’t stop laughing (even if we did fail that lab).
The time my cousins gaslit me into thinking I was “drunk”. With permission from my mom, they ordered me an “alcoholic drink”. I started giggling, thought I was lightheaded, all from a few sips. They proceeded to tell me the “alcohol” was actually a peach detox; I convinced myself I was drunk. We had some good laughs over that.
When my cousin was convinced France was a city in Italy. And that Eurasia was a continent. And that Britain was a region of England. I joked that he should never take AP European History. My cousins and I love making fun of each other because we’ve always treated each other like siblings.
Don’t be afraid to laugh when life throws things at you. We make life enjoyable for ourselves by being able to joke around, to approach situations with a light-hearted perspective. When life gives you lemons, make a lemon squeeze bottle to prank someone.
If you are feeling down and need to find someone to laugh with, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us here at Letters Against Depression if you haven’t already. We send letters of hope and support to those who need someone there for them. You can request to receive letters here.