We all know how easy it is for a case of the giggles to spread like wildfire throughout a group, but now scientists have proven it for once and for all: being around happy people really can make you happier.
Researchers at Manchester University and Warwick University studied 2,000 high school students to see how their close everyday contact influenced their moods.
They discovered that people who are depressed can really benefit from hanging around with upbeat, positive friends. In fact, surrounding yourself with mentally healthy mates can halve the probability of developing, or double the probability of recovering from, depression over a six to 12 month period. While happiness is catching, the study also proved that depression is not;
University of Warwich researcher Edward Hill says:
"Our results suggest that promotion of any friendship between adolescents can reduce depression since having depressed friends does not put them at risk, but having healthy friends is both protective and curative."
Paper author, Dr Thomas House of the University of Manchester, added:
"As a society, if we enable friendships to develop among adolescents (for example providing youth clubs) each adolescent is more likely to have enough friends with healthy mood to have a protective effect. This would reduce the prevalence of depression."
So there it is. Laughter really could be the best medicine.
