Summary: Self-deprecating humor, when used carefully, you help people manage emotions, build trust, and develop connection—especially in medical settings. Far from being strictly bad, this type of laughter signals modesty, self-awareness, and confidence.
However, when serious or ill received, it may hint at small self-esteem or act as a refined cry for help. Learning to stabilize humour with self-kindness is key to using it properly without reinforcing bad self-talk.
Important Facts:
- Medical Tool: Self-deprecating humor may defuse emotional strength and help mental health treatment.
- Signs Confidence: When used properly, it reflects self-awareness and risk.
- Cultural Variations: It’s more typical in personal cultures that value believability.
Origin: Harvard
There are many types of fun. Self-deprecating laughter is its own class.
I use laughing and fun when treating people struggling with depression and anxiety. Self-deprecating fun can be useful in a medical setting. I use it myself to show its authority and welcome relationship.
For instance, I’m a mother and I’m constantly saying, “mom failing”, and stuff like that. I think that’s great because to call yourself out like that provides a bit of the sudden and sends the message that it’s OK never to get yourself so seriously. Taking humor into that discussion is also helpful because of the security it signals.
Humor lightens the load or defuses the strength of that time, and may help promote feeling legislation, which will help you re-establish some feeling of quality and standpoint.
The word self-deprecating humour makes it sound much more damaging than it is. For me, it is not making joy of yourself, it is taking yourself, or the position that you’re in, less seriously. People who tend to employ self-deprecating humor properly are very polite and self-aware.
These are individuals who see themselves for who they are, for better or worse, and they have come to accept that. It signals some level of self-confidence. There is an openness and commitment to be resilient. It even highlights the likability of people who don’t consider themselves quite seriously.  ,
What’s fascinating about the use of self-deprecating fun is that it’s about somewhat spontaneous, which can be very revealing. The speech being used can sometimes be suggestive of somebody who is coming from a position of damage or small self-esteem.
Serious self-criticism and the use of very severe language to talk about yourself, including the develop and the framework, matter.
Often, self-deprecation can be used as a charge for attention. Someone might be using what sounds like fun, but what it’s drawing from us is love. It may also be a small off-putting on the devices.
When you’re saying things that you think is funny, but other people are like,” Oh, that’s not funny”, then do a closer look within to see where some of that is originating from, and what’s the trust in expressing that.
Likewise, when we take ourselves too severely or take the situations that we find ourselves in very seriously, it can create a feedback loop, in which we are feeling severely about ourselves and putting negativity out and having that even fed back to us.
Learning how to take yourself less seriously without putting yourself down is important. If you say something that comes into your mind, and you think it’s funny, when you say it, does it make you feel better, or does it make you feel worse? Or does it elicit the response that you were hoping for?
It’s interesting to note that self-deprecating humor tends to be more common in individualistic cultures, while collective cultures often make fun of others.
Western cultures put more emphasis on relatability and approachability, being able to have people relate to you by signaling flaws and vulnerabilities sends the message that everybody has struggles and we are all in this together.
Cultures that are more collective tend to poke fun at one another because there’s a different sense of community. It’s the same way in which you’d would poke fun at your sibling. It’s good-natured, and it’s not meant to cause ill or harm.
I see a lot of us taking things to an extreme in a way that’s not helpful and probably not healthy. Taking ourselves less seriously is a tool to bring us back into some better balance, either within ourselves or with other people.
As an example, think about two people who disagree deeply about something and have trouble connecting with each other. In those situations, finding common ground through something that may be humorous could be a game-changer.
That sounds like I’m exaggerating the power of humor, but when we take ourselves too seriously, we end up isolating ourselves and that prevents us from connecting with others.
About this mental health and humor research news
Author: Natalie Dattilo ,
Source: Harvard
Contact: Natalie Dattilo – Harvard
Image: The image is credited to Neuroscience News
