Happiness and Health Paper

         Being healthy is a very important factor to living a longer life. Being healthy also makes a lot of people feel good about themselves, which makes them happier. It is known that being in a state of depression, or having negative thoughts, can affect someone’s health in the worst way. If it has been proven that negative emotions can have a bad effect on people’s health, can positive emotions do the opposite? Many people have conducted studies to show that being happy, or just simply laughing, can affect people’s health for the better. Most people fail to see that being happy can do more than just lift their mood. People who are happier tend to be healthier than those who are not. Being around the people they love, showing appreciation to others, or simply laughing can bring many happiness to people which can have a great effect on their health.                      

         A positive mindset brings the best out of people, and those with a healthy mind tend to be physically healthier. Happier people do more to care about their bodies and care more about their physical appearance. They eat healthier and may even do a lot of activities which can be very good for them. A lot of people do not know that doing some of the simple things that make them even a little happier can surely have more of a positive effect on their bodies. “…Researchers are finding that strategies that improve mental health may also boost physical health by, for example, shielding the heart from stress and enhancing the immune system”. (Happiness and Health). Doing things that bring up their moods reduces stress that can become a health factor to many.             

          Simple things such as spending time with loved ones can change someone’s mood to a happier one, which will also make them healthier. Many people who feel lonely, or feel they don’t have a purpose tend to be less healthy than those who are surrounded and supported by loved ones. “Chronic loneliness is associated with higher rates of high blood pressure, inactivity, smoking, and stress, according to several studies”. (Happier and healthier). Nobody wants to be lonely and having a sense of comfort and love with other people does, in fact, make them happier. Someone who is hospitalized may be more likely to recover faster with the love and support of their family and friends.                                      
           It is also important to always be grateful to people, because gratitude can also make people feel better about themselves. “Gratitude exercises can do more than lift one’s mood…psychologist Robert Emmons found they improve physical health, raise energy levels, and for patients with neuromuscular disease, relieve pain and fatigue”. (The New Science). Showing appreciation for others does not only make the other person feel better, it also has an effect on their mental health. Happiness is key when it comes to being healthier. “When you’re happy your body releases feel-good neurochemicals, which can have numerous favorable effects on the body”. (12 Power Health Moves).                                                                                              Some say “Laughter is the best medicine”. To many, this is very true, while others do not believe that laughter has the ability to change their mood from angry or sad, to happy. There are many who believe that laughter is nothing more than “unnecessary and vulgar” (qtd. in Khatchadourian, 84). Raffi Khatchadourian writes about a doctor named Madan Lal Kataria, also known as the “Laughing Guru”. Kataria devotes his life to helping people laugh, believing that laughter does improve people’s health. He “…promotes laughter as a cure for just about any ailement--physical, psychological, or spiritual”. (Khatchadourian, 77). He gathers in a room with a group of strangers and they perform an exercise called “Gradient Laughter”, where they just stand around and laugh, and eventually the fake laughter becomes real. According to Kataria, the body does not know the difference between both laughs, but they can both have good effects on physical health. Kataria believes that “Going through the motions of laughter, he said, would not only improve one’s mood…but enhance physical well-being”. Although there are no scientific facts to support this particular belief, there are studies that show that laughter can actually help people to lead healthier lives, and may even increase their life span. “A good laugh can be good for your heart. One recent study from the University of Texas at Austin found that those who chuckled while watching a comedy increased the dilation of blood vessels by one-fifth for up to 24 hours”. (12 Power Health Moves).                                                                                               Many people lose sight of the important things in life that can bring up their spirits. They prefer to be upset about the things they don’t have, or think their life is over when battling with an illness. Being happy can definitely help a person lead a much longer and healthier life. Happiness is very essential in people’s health, and although they may not believe it, there are so many simple ways to bring about such happiness. Always thinking positive is a very important factor to being that much happier.