Smile More! How Smiling Helps Improve Your Mental Health

Something as simple as smiling often goes overlooked. Yes it’s a nice gesture, looks better in photos, and always comes naturally when you’re happy, but have you ever really thought about smiling and what it does for you? There are many studies that show that smiling has numerous benefits, including improving your health and the health of others. At Campi Dental, we are always focused on making your smile healthy, and making you confident about your oral health so that smiling hopefully comes naturally for you. Let’s get down to the science of it.

They say it takes more muscles to frown than to smile, so why not make an effort to try and smile more? It’s not always the easiest thing to do, especially after a long and stressful day, but if you can take it upon yourself to crack a smile, you’ll actually feel better. 

When you smile, your brain releases tiny molecules called neuropeptides to naturally help fight off stress. Then other neurotransmitters like dopamine, serotonin and endorphins come into play. The endorphins act as a mild pain reliever, whereas the serotonin is an antidepressant. One study even suggests that smiling can help us recover faster from stress and reduce our heart rate. In some cases it might even be worth your while to fake a smile and see where it gets you. There’s been some evidence that forcing a smile can still bring you a boost in your mood and happiness level. 

Top 10 Benefits & Reasons to Smile

1. Relieves stress
2. Boosts your immune system
3. Lowers your blood pressure
4. Makes you live long
5. Elevates your mood
6. Reduces pain
7. Makes you more attractive
8. Suggests success
9. Helps you stay positive
10. It’s contagious – you could naturally improve someone else’s life without even knowing it

 

It turns out the benefits of smiling aren’t just limited to yourself — it can also affect those around you. We’ve already talked about how our brains react when we smile, but we’re also rewarded when we see someone else smile too. It’s a great feeling knowing that you’ve brought happiness to someone else, and that alone can positively impact you, your health, and your attitude.

Smiling & Mental Health

Anxiety and depression are two major mental health issues that many people deal with on a daily basis, whether openly, or in private. The past year and half of dealing with a worldwide pandemic has actually increased mental health cases and has caused many negative impacts to people around the world. Stress and anxiety can be ongoing challenges related to mental health, studies show that natural strategies often improve symptoms and although can’t heal the ongoing issues, do help with dealing with daily symptoms. Exercise, proper diet, and you guessed it…smiling are just three natural ways that they say can help to reduce stress/anxiety, and often help symptoms of depression. Smiling helps reduce stress-induced hormones in the bloodstream, which helps avoid adrenal fatigue. Your body is an amazing thing, you need to trust it as much as you can and give it the right stuff to fuel positivity and good health.

We hope that this article has educated you on something that most think is so simple, yet can truly have such an impact on your health, and the health of those around you. Smile. Laugh. Love. Be Positive. It’s amazing how practicing those few things can really change a life. We hope that we help you to have the courage to not only smile, but LOVE your smile and be confident in your own skin because of it.