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Maybe because it won't change the fact that one is involuntarily isolated

That would still be pretty good

My wife was in college for nursing the last 2 years. She was heavily stressed by workload more than anything else.

Is laughter the best medicine? "The best" might be a stretch but it's proving to have benefits for a variety of issues, plus it's free.

What I'm really wondering is, what are the side effects or downsides of laughter?

Well, my 40 year old wife threw her back out laughing at a joke once. She was in pain for a month!

Oof. Sorry to hear that. I suppose the Delphic maxim, "Nothing in excess", applies to laughter as well. But I know I've had fits of uncontrollable laughter, so I can see how avoiding extremes might be difficult at times.

That said, it's not an easy feat in most cases to even get to that point. Anyway, I hope she's feeling better and not entirely afraid of laughing now.

1 out of 4 ain't bad (with apologies to Meatloaf)