So starts every episode of the now (sadly) discontinued podcast The Hilarious World of Depression. During each episode, host and self-identified depressive John Moe would interview a comedian about his or her life, career, and history of mental illness. All the while, Moe and his guest would aim to answer the question, “is depression funny?”
Indeed, rates of depression and mental illness among comedians are remarkably high. But with more than 40 percent of adolescents overall and 60 percent of female adolescents expressing persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness over the past year, and 22 percent of adolescents reporting they seriously contemplated suicide during the same period of time, it’s hard to find the humor in what is undoubtedly a youth mental health crisis.
But perhaps it’s not a question of is depression itself funny, but rather can humor be a tool to treat and even cure depression. While depression and mental illness—particularly in the age of social media—can be lonely and isolating, humor and laughter foster connection and community. Laughter is a sign of recognition or understanding of a shared experience. By bringing humor into the therapy room, can we strengthen the therapeutic connection that is, in so many ways, the mechanism of psychic healing?
Indeed, studies suggest humor has been found to decrease negative emotions, increase positive emotions, and impair the potential of adverse experience to trigger depressive episodes in vulnerable individuals. On a neurobiological level, laughter decreases levels of cortisol and epinephrine in the blood, and alters dopamine and serotonin activity– not to mention the endorphins secreted by laughter, which can further relieve depressive symptoms. Perhaps crucially, researchers suggest a distinction between laughter in abstract and shared laughter. It is shared laughter– situated within a social context– that not only increases positive emotions, but furthermore promotes relationship well-being and connection.
Perhaps this is what John Moe was on to the whole time. In sharing one’s experience of mental illness or depression—with a therapist, friend, or an untold number of podcast listeners— you invite connection, recognition, and indeed humor, that is a reminder that you are not alone.
- AMP Studios. (2016). The Hilarious World of Depression. whole.
- Suttie, J. (2017, July 17). How laughter brings us together: new research suggests that people who laugh together like each other more. Greater Good Magazine: Science-Based Insight for a Meaningful Life.
- Yim, J. (2016). Therapeutic benefits of laughter in mental health: A theoretical review. The Tohoku Journal of Experimental Medicine, 239(3), 243–249. https://doi.org/10.1620/tjem.
239.243
- Zhao, J., Yin, H., Zhang, G., Li, G., Shang, B., Wang, C., & Chen, L. (2019). A meta‐analysis of randomized controlled trials of laughter and humour interventions on depression, anxiety and sleep quality in adults. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 75(11), 2435–2448. https://doi.org/10.1111/jan.
14000