By Dea Ozegovic/reporter

South Campus students recently learned a positive way of dealing with end-of-semester stress — laughter.

South Campus student health services hosted Laughing Your Way Through Stress Nov. 4 to demonstrate the benefits of laughter.

Flo Stanton, South Campus health services coordinator, discussed the importance of good stress management. Along with different coping methods, Stanton emphasized laughter.

“It’s not that we laugh because we’re happy,” she said. ”We’re happy because we laugh.”

Stanton said negative and positive change can bring stress to everyday life.

“Stress is a response in the body to any perceived significant change or threat,” she said.

School, family, work and relationships are all potential stress factors, she said.

“Stress is inescapable,” she said. “It is very important to know how to manage it.”

Certain symptoms may indicate an increase in stress, Stanton said, including problems eating and sleeping, increased boredom and fatigue, problems making decisions, anxiety and confusion over unimportant events, weakness or dizziness. Stanton said students experiencing any of these symptoms should take action, even if only by reading up on some stress reduction techniques or visiting health services on any campus.

If stress is not controlled, Stanton said it can lead to serious health issues. Stress can cause damage to the immune system, development of insulin resistance and other potentially deadly illnesses. 

Some stress can be beneficial because it urges students to get things accomplished. It gives someone the needed adrenaline to complete tasks, and it increases alertness.

Along with making people happier, Stanton said laughter plays a key role in one’s physical health. Laughter is known to relieve pain naturally because it increases endorphins, which reduce pain or increase resistance to it.

Laughter is also said to be a natural tension reducer because it relaxes the muscles.

Stanton shared laughter tips such as making collections of things that make one laugh, laughing at oneself and one’s surroundings, not in derision but with objectivity and acceptance, and making others laugh. By creating happiness for others, a person can experience a special joy of accomplishment, she said.

For more information, contact Stanton at 817-515-4531.