I Have A Poor Sense Of Humor. Does That Make Me More Prone To Stress?

— -- Question: I have a poor sense of humor. Does that make me more prone to stress?

Answer: Well, there's something to be said for the old saying that laughter is the best medicine. There have been studies, for instance, with heart patients that have shown that people with heart disease laugh about 40 percent less at funny situations than people with healthy hearts, so that's kind of interesting. Freud even talked about laughter as a healthy coping strategy all those years ago, so there must be something to it. And all these years since, I think we've found out that having a sense of humor helps you be more resilient and more flexible and able to bond with others. So there's a lot of positive aspects to having a sense of humor and coping with stress.

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