Laughter Can Be Good Medicine

It has been known that laughter releases hormones that act on the same "feel-good" receptors as opioids and drugs like heroin. There was a recent study on whether laughter can help people that experience pain and if it increases their tolerance. Here is an excerpt of the article:

"The current research did not directly measure endorphins in the brain, but prior studies of opioid-blocking drugs in humans and animals show that endorphin activity is tied to pain relief. Earlier research shows also that endorphins are important for bonding between parents and children. Endorphins are released in babies' brains when a soothing parent responds to their cries, providing safety, warmth and food; babies come to connect that endorphin-induced stress relief with their parents' presence. Research has further shown that opioids are one of the few things that can ease the cries of young animals that have been separated from their mothers. This may help explain why childhood trauma — particularly abuse and neglect — dramatically raises a person's risk of future heroin or prescription opioid addiction. When a person's stress system becomes overactive in the absence of parental nurture or social support, he is more likely to seek external opioid drugs to soothe it. Increasingly, research finds that emotional and physical pain are not distinct and that social contact, whether it be a parent's touch or a friend's joke, can provide relief. That should be good news to all those working comedians out there—or maybe, a bit more pressure. If they're not laughing, they're may be hurting."

With this study in mind, do not forget to call that friend that lives such a long distance away over the internet phone. It won't cost you anything but it might mean everything to that person.