Humor: A useful tool for building resilience

“Against the assault of laughter nothing can stand."—Mark Twain

The ability to overcome obstacles after enduring difficult times is a skill that is essential to soldiers, who face the unique challenges of military service and battle. People cope with adversity in different ways. There are many strategies to help yourself bounce back after facing trauma, including humor. It’s healthy to cope by having a positive outlook. Humor—the healthy kind—includes playfulness, a positive state of mind, and the ability to laugh.

If you need a reason to laugh, consider the physical, psychological, and social benefits of humor. Having a good sense of humor can help you heal more quickly after injury, help you manage pain, promote your psychological well-being, reduce your stress and anxiety, and enhance your memory. Social relationships are helped by a good sense of humor. (Remember the expression “laughter is contagious”?) Humor helps improve personal relationships and helps social and professional groups bond.

Learn how to harness the power of humor with the following 10 tips:

1. Expose yourself to something funny at least once a week.
2. Go to a comedy club. Going with others can also serve as a positive bonding experience.
3. Be able to laugh at yourself. Don’t take yourself too seriously.
4. Use humor appropriately! Some jokes are offensive rather than positive (see #5).
5. Topics off limits typically include ethnicity, religion, gender, and weight. Avoid sarcasm and don’t make others the butt of jokes. Appropriate targets could be yourself or an inanimate object.
6. Timing is everything! There are times when joking or laughing is unwelcome or inappropriate. Learn how to read others to successfully pull off your joke.
7. Get joke-of-the-day e-mails, calendars, or books to boost your mood and spread the humor.
8. Figure out what makes you laugh. Rent some movies, watch comedy on TV, or reminisce with old buddies to discover your sense of humor.
9. If you need to practice, seek out therapeutic humor, a laughter club, or laughter yoga.
10. Practice laughing. Become comfortable hearing yourself laugh out loud.

The Association for Applied and Therapeutic Humor has more information on the therapeutic benefits of humor.