State of Mind: Watch out for prankster’s on April Fools’ Day

Many of the pranksters that walk among us have spent the last 364 days looking forward to the first day of April. Like wearing costumes on Halloween or green on Saint Patrick’s Day, April Fools’ Day provides a break in the norm, allowing pranks and practical jokes to become commonplace.

At the risk of taking a more serious look at an intentionally playful and often lighthearted tradition, it’s interesting to consider the relationship between the customs of April Fools’ Day and our mental health. Like most things, there are upsides and downsides. While the exact origins of April Fools’ Day are unknown, activities throughout the day are often built on the goal of laughing at someone else’s calamity. Those pulling the prank find joy in tricking unsuspecting victims of (hopefully harmless) follies.

Still, there is a concept often referred to by the German term schadenfreude, which is a combination of words that literally mean harm and joy. Schadenfreude, then, refers to the experience of feeling joy or satisfaction as the result of someone else’s misfortune.

Ultimately, none of us are immune to the feelings of enjoyment at someone else’s expense. This can be a result of individual comparison with another and feeling pleasure when the other experiences hardship. It can happen when a rival group experiences a negative event. It can even occur when we feel justice has been delivered to a deserving person. Regardless, schadenfreude happens when empathy is missing. In other words, having empathy toward someone’s misfortune leads us to feel bad for them, while lacking empathy in a situation leads to schadenfreude, or feeling enjoyment.

Interestingly, schadenfreude has an inverse relationship with self-esteem. That is, those with higher self-esteem don’t tend to need others to fail to feel better about themselves, while those with lower self-esteem are more likely to derive pleasure from others’ failures.

On April Fools’ Day, it’s unlikely that the prankster is considering the science behind schadenfreude. Instead, the focus is typically on their own self-satisfaction, and they may assume the subject of their efforts is laughing with them. Unfortunately, for some, being laughed at or being the butt of someone else’s jokes can increase anxiety and fear and damage happiness.

That isn’t to say that April Fools tricksters are some menacing breed bent on humiliating unsuspecting targets, or that all those on the receiving end of pranks are hurt and angry. In fact, a great deal of research also has been done on the role of laughter in well-being. Laughter has been shown to reduce stress and anxiety while deepening our connections with others. It also has been shown to relieve muscle tension, improve memory, strengthen the immune system and lower the risk of heart disease.

In this context, those April Fools’ Day jokes might just be improving the lives of everyone involved. The important thing is to understand the balance between using a reluctant target’s humiliation as schadenfreude fodder and using laughter to increase well-being. If all parties are using April Fools for the latter, then the day can be whimsical and lighthearted.

In today’s environment, where individuals, groups, companies, media and everyone else seem to be getting in on the action through jokes and elaborate hoaxes, the opportunity exists for a day of fun, humor and surprise. At the same time, it’s as important to acknowledge others’ boundaries and come from a place of respect.

Bryan Busch is a licensed mental health counselor in Cedar Rapids. He also works at Folience, the parent company of The Gazette. He can be reached at bryan.busch@thegazette.com.