You'll Laugh at This Stress Buster, But it Works

Took you a minute to get the joke last night when you were out with your friends? That might be why you forgot about your parking ticket, your e-mail mix-up (double-check the recipient next time!), or your otherwise bad day and had such a great time.

It's a no-brainer that humor can assuage negative feelings. But when researchers studied why that's so, they found that funny stuff does its job better if it takes a little mental muscle to figure out the punch line. In research lingo, it turns out that “highly demanding stimuli” were better at tempering bad moods than less demanding ones were. The theory is that the thinking that you do to "get" jokes is what helps take your mind off your troubles. And it might mean that when you're feeling down, you're better off watching Annie Hall instead of Dumb and Dumber.

If your DVD collection just isn't doing the trick, there are other things you can do to ameliorate your mood. For one, spend time with happy people -- that increases your chances of happiness by about 15%. And our favorite (other than listening to and telling jokes): Go for a walk. A regular walking habit can turn the dial way down on depression, stress, and anxiety. Even better: Walk with a buddy who can recap Jon Stewart for you. And if your buddy's busy, lace up and get out there anyway.