🧠 Why Medical Students Laugh at Tragic Things (and Why It’s Actually Healthy)

Ever wondered why medical students burst into laughter during what seems like the bleakest moments? From a patient flatulating during CPR to a nervous nurse cracking jokes after a code blue, what looks like callousness is actually a lifeline. In her latest piece, Dr. Joanna Monigatti deep-dives into the world of dark medical humour, explaining why those studying to save lives use laughter as armor—and why that may be one of the healthiest coping mechanisms in the high-stakes world of medicine.

Medical training isn’t just cognitively demanding—it’s an emotional battleground. Faced with death, trauma, relentless expectations and zero room for error, trainees turn to what psychologists call gallows humour. Far from being insensitive, it’s a survival tool: laughter releases endorphins and dopamine that blunt the stress response and guard against burnout. It also helps forge a sense of “we’re in this together” camaraderie among teams in crisis.

According to the article:

• Dark humour helps reduce burnout in healthcare settings.

• Humor builds connection and perspective in emotionally draining environments.

• But—and this is key—it’s only healthy when grounded in empathy, used among peers, and never at the expense of patients.

So next time you hear a chuckle in a hospital corridor that feels out of place, remember: it might be the sound of someone keeping themselves human in a profession that asks them to be more than human.

Read the article here.

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Be well, be sound in mind and body,

Dr. Joanna