Humor – or more precisely: humorous diversion of attention from the stressor – can be an effective tool to prevent relapses of depression, although it must be used skillfully and prudently – showed research led by Dr. Anna Braniecka from the SWPS University.
According to the university, this is the first study on the use of humor in the therapy of people who have experienced depression. Depressing or stressful events are part of almost everyone’s life, and most people have their own methods of dealing with the emotions that accompany them. For people who are prone to depression and have already suffered from depression, dealing with the stressors of everyday life is a more complicated process. They need specific and proven tools that allow them to get rid of negative emotional states, which – if they persist for too long – can lead to a relapse of the disease.
Therefore, it is extremely important to practice various emotion regulation strategies in order to maintain the mental health of people in remission of depression, i.e. after its symptoms have subsided. As we read in the information, originally the focus was only on the methods of reducing negative emotions and the symptoms associated with them, but now it is emphasized that those methods that will affect the development of positive emotions are also important. The method that fits into both of these approaches is humor.
“Humor is a method of influencing one’s own emotions that has been used widely since man has existed. It has already been identified in previous studies as an effective emotion regulation strategy, which is highly beneficial both in reducing negative emotional states and increasing positive ones. However, in relation to depression, it can be perceived as controversial” – said Dr. Anna Braniecka from the Institute of Psychology of the SWPS University in Warsaw, quoted on the university’s website.
The researcher, who worked with people suffering from depression for many years, emphasized that one of the symptoms of this disease is anhedonia, i.e. inability, difficulty in experiencing positive emotions. Therefore, it is difficult for a person suffering from depression to find space where humor could be used.
“When someone is severely depressed, trying to use humor as a therapeutic method may be unjustified, but there is a moment when the patient still has mild depressive symptoms but is already recovering, or is in remission and wants to maintain health and increase well-being. And then what? We don’t have many ways to help. The vast majority, if not all methods of helping people with depression, are methods focused on negativity,” explains the psychologist, pointing out at the same time that a broadly understood positivity is also needed for full mental health.
However, the use of humor for therapeutic purposes is not so obvious, e.g. because previous studies on the impact of humor and jokes on well-being were conducted on healthy people. Scientists from the Institute of Psychology of the SWPS University decided to look at this issue. Their study involved 94 patients after remission of symptoms of depression, 65 women and 29 men, recruited in outpatient clinics and psychiatric clinics.
First, the subjects, randomly divided into three groups, were asked to focus on a current concern. A different strategy was then applied to each of the three groups. In the first group, a stressful situation was made a joke; in the second, a different situation, unrelated to the stressor, was joked about. The third group of respondents was to refer to a stressful situation in a rational way, devoid of humor. Later, the researchers checked the levels of positive and negative emotions, stress and intrusive thoughts appearing in the subjects at different intervals.
“When confronted with something distressing, we can do two things: focus on the stressor and make a joke about it, or run away from the situation, use distraction and make fun of something else. Which strategy is better? Ideas in the scientific literature varied. The result of our study turned out to be surprising for us” – said Braniecka.
Research shows that in people in remission of depression, still susceptible to this disease, distraction humor is more effective, i.e. the one that allows you to divert attention from stress and cut off from the self-reinforcing vicious circle of negative thoughts and emotions.
“People prone to depression, especially those with impaired cognitive functioning, tend to ruminate, or relive negative events. These people, when they could make a joke about something negative, were probably focusing too much on the event rather than on the humorous task. They were experiencing instead of joking. Therefore, +escape+ from the stressor turned out to be simpler and therefore effective for them” – explained the psychologist.
According to Braniecka, the results of the study show that humor – generally considered beneficial – if used improperly, may be ineffective or even dangerous for some patients. The researcher added that the weaker the sense of influence of the subjects on reality was, the more harmful the humor focused on the stressor was: it meant that the person who joked about their unpleasant experience could not return to the emotional state before the study and remained in a negative mood longer.
Dr. Braniecka emphasized that the result obtained by her team is a single study for now – in order to use humor therapy, there should be more work on this topic.
The article was published in the journal Scientific Reports (https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-022-11515-y). The authors are researchers from the SWPS University: Dr. Anna Braniecka, Iwona Wołkowicz, Dr. Anna Orylska, Dr. Agnieszka Chrzczonowicz-Stępień, Ewelina Bolek and Dr. hab. Anna Z. Antosik-Wójcińska from the Medical University of Warsaw. (PAP)
Author: Agnieszka Kliks-Pudlik
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