How Laughter Can Connect And Heal Families Through The Anguish Of Coronavirus

How laughter can connect and heal families through the anguish of coronavirus

- Ros Ben-Moshe

Though families have retreated into their homes, it seems dads the world over are taking centre stage on social media and video-sharing platforms, providing an antidote to

COVID-19 anxiety. Quarantined dads have showcased their skills at kitchen cupboard percussion to match Phil Collins’ famous drum solo in “In The Air Tonight” (bit.ly/2LfqHlw), looked for things to fix (bit.ly/37WCvRE), pretended to break the rules to order a beverage at their local coffee shop (bit. ly/3m8het4), performed surgery on soft toys (bit.ly/3ngSAYs), and mastered family TikTok dances (youtu.be/43RV7eZgRmI). Especially the dances.

Though we may expect a more serious response from fathers to an upended world, humour, laughter and playfulness help foster resilience and provide a coping strategy to better manage and reduce stress.

Cultivating a laughter mindset is an important tool to build connection and gain some mastery over things we can’t control. Not all play or humour results in laughter, but it primes the mind’s internal landscape toward positivity. As Laughter Yoga founder Dr Madan Kataria puts it, “laughter doesn’t necessarily solve a problem, but it helps dissolve it.”

DADS AS ROLE MODELS

No matter what country we’re from, viewers are all laughing in the same language at TikTok videos.