Welcome back to Term 4! It was such a wonderful feeling to return to the College after an extended period of leave to happy, smiling and positive young people in the Kilbreda hallways. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Kylie Carroll who stood in to replace me while I was on leave and what an incredible job she did. Thank you Kylie for looking after these wonderful young people.

Given the stressful few weeks we have coming up for our Year 10 students (end of semester assessment period, Exams, Headstart and beginning their senior years of study), this time of the year is wrought with stress and anxiety!

What is a good way to assist our young people in reducing this stress and anxiety they may be experiencing?...…Humour and Laughter – an underrated tool for our mental health!!

Having a sense of humour can help us in more ways than one. By finding humour and laughter in our lives regularly, this assists with improving our dimensions of health and wellbeing holistically. Research into laughter has found that laughter and humour have positive health outcomes for all people when practised regularly. 

Humour is a CHARACTER STRENGTH in the field of Positive Psychology! However, it is important that we DO NOT practice detrimental humour (e.g., sarcasm and self-disparaging humour) as this is an unhelpful way to cope.

Health Benefits of Laughter and Humour

• Exercises your diaphragm and lungs
• Laughter assists with relaxing the body and calming nerves
• Laughter has been proven to reduce pain (physical and mental)
• Increase sleep performance and boost your immunity function
• Reduction of stress and anxiety
• Improving your memory
• Improving your social connections and relationships with others
• Allows you to understand yourself a bit better, as well as many other benefits!

Tips to Find Laughter and Humour in our Lives

• Read funny books
• Spend more time around funny people or people who make you laugh
• Watch or listen to stand-up comedy (physical show or podcasts/videos)
• Play with a pet
• Don’t be afraid to embrace your inner child
• Don’t allow others to dictate what you find amusing.  If you have a dark sense of humour or enjoy ‘potty’ jokes, that’s okay. As long as you aren’t offending or hurting anyone with your sense of humour – go ahead and laugh!

Jessica Baddeley
Level Leader: Year 10