Collectively, 2020 was a year that brought disaster and trauma to the forefront. It seemed that everything that could go wrong, did. And what we have seen of 2021 so far proves that it’s going to be a similar experience. This idea of constant trauma is not new for our generation. We have experienced this collective trauma from the very beginning of our lives and don’t know any different. Since we have conditioned ourselves to become accustomed to these tragedies, we have found that humor is our only respite. This reason alone has us labeled as “dark and desensitized” by older generations. I would agree that our humor is dark and that desensitization is our way to cope, but we have no other choice. Therapy is a luxury that is not afforded to many, and, conveniently, laughter is free.
I was born in October of the year 2000. I wouldn’t know yet that one of the biggest tragedies in American history would happen before I could even turn the age of one. 9/11 was something that we all heard about but were too young to have experienced the trauma in its entirety. At any age, the news was shocking and incomprehensible. Little did we know that this would be one of many and become somewhat normal in our daily lives. In my first month of middle school, Sandy Hook became the first of numerous school shootings. This would continue into my junior year of high school. Every day I sat and watched a televised account of students, who were my age, die. What was even more disconcerting is that I sat at the same desks they did, in the same place in which their lives had ended. The most my school did to combat this issue was hand out magnetic strips that automatically locked doors. In my first year of college, the whole world shut down because of a global pandemic. We could not and still cannot interact with each other because if so, there is a high chance our lives could end. While experiencing these unprecedented times, countless amounts of people would lose their lives to police brutality. Many would lose their lives protesting for fundamental rights. In the first month of the new year, we had a domestic coup full of people who glorified an inadequate leader. Everywhere we looked, there was inevitable misfortune at our doorstep. So… we just laughed.
Everybody has heard the phrase “laughter is the best medicine” at least once in their life. It’s true — not only is laughter a pleasurable experience but it’s been scientifically proven to be beneficial for your health. According to the Mayo Clinic, “short term, it can stimulate multiple organs, activate and relieve your stress response, and soothe tension.” Mainly, I have found that Gen Z uses humor for the last two benefits. We laugh if we are uncomfortable, stressed, or do not know how else to react.
For some of us, laughter is our only moment of relief that helps us escape our bleak realities. And I think that’s okay. If laughter is our healthiest way to cope, then so be it.