Laughing Out Loud

You know that thing your parents threatened you with as a kid? Running away squealing at the sight of those wiggling fingers when you refused to clean up your toys or do some other mundane task our young, imaginative toddler minds dismissed. Maybe the only reason was to get you to squeal and run away, enticing a fun game of chase.

The Tickle Monster

Oh, yeah. That's exactly what I'm talking about. Those predator hands running over your feet, armpits, stomach, neck, or sides in order to produce uncontrolable laughter. It starts off in small fits before turning into raucous guffaws as your body twists and turns in order to get away. It's all fun and games to the person doing the tickling, laughing along with your own forced laughter.

There are two kinds of known laughter produced from tickling -knismesis and gargalesis. The first, knismesis, is caused by soft feather-light touches which often produces little sound. The only thing you feel is the little tingle from those nerve ending being awakened and a quick jerk of the body. This form can also feel itchy so you don't even consider it tickling. It's that weird feeling you get when you run your nails along your palm or the bottom of your feet. You nose crinkles and you feel the need to itch at the spot. On the other hand, gargalesis, pertains to that roaring laughter bubbling from deep within your chest. This occurs from a more aggresive tickle attack. When another family member or friend decides to tackle you to the ground, wriggling their fingers on your most ticklist spots. Unless you have a dissociative disorders like Schizophrenia, you cannot cause a gargalsis response yourself. The cerebellum at the back of the brain warns your body of your attempt to tickle yourself, telling the brain to not waste time on interrupting those signals or to instead supress the sensation. On the contrary, knismesis can be self-induced.

I know, weird right!

Despite the positive views on laughter, it is actually a sign of distress and discomfort when being tickled. It's your body's way of showing it's submission to your aggressor.

Our skin's nerve endings pick up the signal of these tickles, sending it to the brain. These signals are sent straight to the hypothalamus. The hypothalamus is the area of your brain which controls your emotional responses -flight or flight and pain responses. Those immense jerks of the body while being tickled and the loud shrieks leaving your mouth are signs similar to someone in severe pain. The chemical make-up of our body tells us to protect the vulenrable spots. The neck is an example of one. Since the most ticklish spots are usually quite vulenrable, it enlights a defensive response. This explains the reason you often kick and punch at your agressor, pushing them away and yelling at them to stop despite the laughter leaving your body. Tears often come along when you are tickled for a long while; a signal of pain.

So next time you try to tickle someone, try to be a bit gentler. Pick those less sensitive areas such as the palm, tops of the feet, and back of the head. Maybe try and use a feather instead of your hands. Depending on how your nails are, they can be quite dangerous. Keep the tickling playful, don't go all hammer-time on your buddy. Slow and gentle wins the race. And most importantly, stop at the first sign of discomfort!

Tickle Safely!

Resources :

https://www.headspace.com/blog/2015/07/29/is-laughter-the-best-medicine/

https://www.healthline.com/health/why-are-people-ticklish#takeaway

Authors Notes :

Thank you so much for reading! Due to certain circumstances, I just recently had to leave my job so any support helps.