"It's hard to laugh when you're miserable, but sometimes after a rough patch, when we're exhausted and all cried out, we're desperate for relief, comic or otherwise. I can't think of a group of people who need to laugh more than we do! Humor is a way we deal with the pain of life, and what's more painful than death?"
"Yet we tend to deny ourselves this respite from our daily dread, particularly in the early, unfunniest days, when we wake up with what I like to call "mourning breath." Even if you think something is funny (like that silly pun), it feels almost sacrilegious to laugh when you're feeling as torn up as we feel. We don't allow ourselves to lose our s*** because we've already lost so much. Laughing helps us cope. Laughing reduces stress, tension, and anxiety."
Parents who have lost a child often struggle to laugh and may force smiles that feel fake. Guilt and beliefs about appropriateness or timing make laughter feel sacrilegious, leading many to deny themselves relief. Laughter reduces stress, tension, anxiety, fear, and anger; it helps tolerate pain, produces control, joy, and hope, and shifts perspective toward life. Allowing laughter—even early in grief—can be therapeutic, restore energy, and aid healing. Grief can entangle people and keep them in darkness, but seeking moments of humor provides necessary respite and can accelerate emotional recovery.
Read at Psychology Today
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