Laughing at Yourself: The Surprising Benefits of Making Fun of Yourself

“Laughter is the best medicine” – that’s what we all have grown up listening to, isn’t it? Well, no one can deny the many amazing benefits of laughter and how it can improve your well-being. Laughing about things can make you feel better and lighter, so it won’t come as a surprise when I say that laughing at yourself or making fun of yourself can also carry some surprising benefits!

My mom always says that when you can make fun of yourself in the direst of situations, then no one else can bully you or make fun of you.

I never understood that. I mean, who would willingly use self-deprecating humor to defuse situations? Wouldn’t it bring a negative impact on one’s well-being?

It did come as a surprise to me when I read that “indeed, self-deprecating humor or making fun of yourself can have numerous positive effects”. So, that’s what we’re learning here today. It might have come as a surprise to me, but laughing at yourself can be good for you when used appropriately.

Let’s explore the benefits of making fun of yourself and how you can do it properly.

The Benefits of Making Fun of Yourself

“Let a smile be your umbrella.” – Irving Kahal

Self-deprecating jokes or self-mocking have always been considered a form of negative coping mechanism, but a study from Spain might suggest something else. It is suggested that self-enhancing humor can contribute to anger management and even enhance emotional well-being among other things.

Here’s how laughing at yourself can benefit you;

1.Increases Self-Esteem

Instead of beating yourself up for your faults and making your self-esteem take a plunge downstream, make fun of yourself and look at them from a humorous perspective. While self-deprecating humor can be considered a sign of low self-esteem, it is believed that people who make fun of themselves are more likely to be confident and well-adjusted. Using self-deprecating humor can help you keep a humorous attitude even in the face of adversity.

2.Better Social Connections

When you are seen as someone who can laugh and stay optimistic, people would often drift to you. When you know how to make fun of yourself by laughing at your quirks, it shows to others that you are confident and comfortable in who you are and you’ll be perceived as someone non-judgmental of others.

This, naturally, will improve your social connections. Also, by making fun of yourself, you say goodbye to social awkwardness.

Fun Fact! Did you know that men are more likely to make fun of others while women are more likely to make fun of themselves? Another tidbit of research suggests that being able to make fun of yourself can be seen as an attractive trait in a partner.

3.Reduced Stress

Laughter in the face of high-stress situations can help reduce stress and even relax the mind and body. When you take a threat seriously, the stress hormone increases the stress, but when you shift your perspective and find humor in such a situation, you allow the threat to fade into the background.

This allows you to feel empowered to deal with the stressful situation and eventually, the threat becomes less threatening.

4.Better Self-Awareness

Laughing at yourself can also be a great way to build self-awareness. When you can make fun of yourself, you learn how to recognize your flaws and be funny about them. Instead of being hard on yourself for your mistakes, you explore more about yourself with kindness when you allow self-deprecating humor in your mind.

This also allows you to become more in sync with your inner self and better understand yourself – behavior, motivation, and more.

5.Improved Self-Expression

Making fun of yourself can also help improve your self-expression. It allows you to show different parts of yourself with comfort. It also shows that you are comfortable making fun of yourself and are confident in yourself – personality and all.

Isn’t it a fun way to tell the world what you feel and think about yourself and the different situations you face?

6.Improved Resilience

Self-deprecating humor can also carry some amazing therapeutic benefits such as better resilience to deal with the challenges of life. When you feel down about yourself, making fun of yourself can help you look at the situation from a different perspective, more often than not, a positive perspective.

Is Laughing at Yourself Healthy?

Looking at yourself with gentle humor and being plain mean to yourself are two different things. Laughing at yourself is healthy when;

• You can view your missteps with compassion and kindness
• You see how embarrassing situations can be humorous
• You can laugh at yourself without being mean to yourself or putting yourself down in others

Making fun of yourself can be negative when you become too critical of yourself. When you begin to demean yourself, that’s when you need to pause and take a step back. Self-deprecating humor is not healthy when you can’t appreciate yourself or your achievements without focusing on your flaws.

If you’re constantly making negative comments about yourself or when your statements are too mean to be funny, then self-deprecating humor can turn unhealthy.

If your funny statements turn from kindness to cruelty, then you need to reframe your humor. Here are some tips to help you out.

How to Make Fun of Yourself?

To properly and appropriately make fun of yourself, you can try these tips;

• Don’t be too serious; One of the first things you can do to make sure that your self-deprecating jokes are not harmful is to not be too serious about them. You need to be less serious about the jokes for this to work effectively.
• Allow some self-deprecating humor; Self-deprecating jokes can allow you to connect with others because it can be seen as putting your guard down. It can make others feel comfortable around you to open up and speak openly.
• Find humor in mistakes; You need to allow your mistakes to be viewed in a humorous light. Making mistakes is a human trait but when you can make fun of your mistakes, that’s when dealing with them becomes easier.
• Be wise with your humor; Remember to use your self-deprecating jokes in moderation. Laughing at yourself too much can be a sign of people-pleasing or fishing for compliments. So be wise with your self-deprecating jokes.

Writer’s Thoughts…

While making fun of yourself isn’t something that I’ve found easier, I’ve realized that it can be a good tool for increasing your self-esteem, and confidence, making friends, and even building better self-awareness.

When you need to make light of events and add a little humor to life, then making fun of yourself or laughing at yourself (at your expense) can be a good tool.

This practice allows you to embrace your flaws with a smile and show that you are not afraid to laugh at yourself when the time calls for some humor. So, go ahead and laugh at your silly mistakes. It’s fun!

If you found this article interesting, then let me know in the comments below. You can also leave your thoughts on making fun of yourself and its benefits by writing to us at info@calmsage.com.

Take care!