Sorry to be a Debbie Downer, but did you know that according to the University of London, perimenopausal women are 40 per cent more likely to experience depressive symptoms than women who are in a different stage of life?
Finding joy can feel that bit tougher when juggling unpredictable hormones, grief or the weight of expectation of where we should be in life and what we should be doing - all while carrying everyone else’s issues as well.
However comedian and Celebrity SAS contestant Shazia Mirza reveals to Ateh Jewel in this week’s Second Act podcast that she has discovered a cheap depression-busting method that could put a smile back on all of our faces.
“People go and watch comedy and say ‘Oh god, I needed a good laugh, that was brilliant.’ It's not just that like that for the audience. It's like that for the comedian because comedy is healing,” says the 53-year-old
“It makes you feel better. It's joyous, it's honest, it's truthful, it's uplifting. And it's all of these things that make not just the audience feel better, but the comedian as well.”
The quote ‘laughter is the best medicine’, isn’t just an old wives tale, it has been scientifically proven to help with midlife depression in women.
According to a report at Action Mental Health, psychologist, Dr Robert Provine – the world’s leading scientific expert on laughter - says the positive emotions we share when we laugh with people can help us reduce feelings of isolation and boost our mental wellbeing.
Talking therapy can also help process issues or dark thoughts. But for Shazia the perfect way for her to do this is through humour.
“Normal people, if they feel I can't tell somebody something, they'll go to a therapist to work out a particular issue. What's therapy for me is being able to get things off my chest. That's cheaper than therapy.
“As a comedian, if there's something getting on my nerves, something I object to, something I'm angry about, I will write about it and I'll go on stage and I'll tell 200 or 300 people and they laugh at it and it kind of belittles what I just said because they're laughing at it.
“So that thing I felt angry about, I don't feel angry about it anymore because I had a room full of people laugh at that takes all the power away from that truth.”
So no matter how fed up you feel, put on your favourite silly TV show, hit You Tube for your favourite comedian, book the local comedy night with friends and just fake a laugh if you need to until the feeling starts to come naturally - and one day, it will.
