Stress can cause a deterioration in physical and mental wellbeing and health.

Health can be defined as our body's natural state of physical wellbeing and emotional happiness. This occurs when the body is able to maintain a balance between the demands made on us in life and our capacity and resources to meet those demands so that we remain safe, healthy and fine. Our physical and mental health are in a state of homeostasis.

Stress creates tension in this balanced state. It tips the scales. Sometimes the tension or stress is good because it promotes growth and personal development of our capacity to fulfil our potential. Sometimes stress is bad, though, because we experience an extreme imbalance where there are more demands being made on us than our resources can cope with. The result is a deterioration in physical and mental wellbeing and health.

Under certain conditions laughter can help us re-establish the balance when the scales are tipped too far in a negative direction where we feel we are unable to cope.

In this section we will focus on the physical and psychological reactions that can occur when you are feeling negatively stress (i.e. distressed), and will demonstrate how laughing can help us achieve better health and overall happiness.