Exercise, Eat Right and Laugh at Your Loser Neighbor

German researchers have found it is healthy to indulge in malicious joy over other people’s failings because a good laugh at someone else’s expense can help relieve stress, a newspaper reported Thursday.

Claudia Sies, a Duesseldorf psychoanalyst, told Bild newspaper that schadenfreude--a uniquely German term meaning “joy over someone else’s misfortune”--is not only healthy, but could give people insights into their own foibles.

“Schadenfreude relieves stress because it can lead to a hearty laugh that helps people relax,” Sies said.

Sies said people should stop feeling guilty about gloating over someone else’s defeat.

“On top of it all, the failings of others that we enjoy the most are often also our own. We are often most ashamed of those foibles--without realizing it.”

Her advice to the targets of the malicious joy is to try to simply laugh along with others.