Is Laughter the Best Medicine?

We all know how stress affects us – The clenched teeth, the stiff shoulders, headaches, and persistent muscle strain. We don’t however give much thought to what causes it.

Stress is caused by emotional, physical, social and mental stress.

Moreover, stress, run amok, can create more havoc and internal damage then the symptoms listed above. It can lead to heart attack, stroke, cancer, and arthritis to name just a few.

The relationship between stress (negative emotions) and disease and illness has proven to be profound, with approximately 70 percent to 90 percent of disease and illness strongly associated with stress. [1]

Think about the following quote for a minute:

“Feelings are chemical, they can kill or cure.” ~ Bernie Siegel, MD

In a world where life seems to get busier and busier every day, we find ourselves being pulled in a multitude of directions. There are many things we can do to relieve stress, but nothing is more effective and potent than -

Laughter!

Yes, you read it right - Laughter is our #1 choice for chasing those stress invaders away.

Laughter is viewed as an expression of humor, and humor as the set of devices designed to trigger it. [2]

Laughter has many clinical benefits, promoting beneficial physiological changes and an overall sense of well-being. Humor even has long-term effects that strengthen the effectiveness of the immune system. [2]

Physiological research in the field of humor and laughter has uncovered amazing results, suggesting that, indeed, laughter has many clinical benefits. In the short term, laughter promotes many physiological changes; most notably, it stabilizes [3]:

• blood pressure,
• massages inner organs,
• stimulates circulation,
• facilitates digestion,
• increases oxygen supply to muscles,
• decreases muscle tension, and
• promotes an overall sense of well-being. In fact, laughter produces similar, if not identical, responses to those associated with progressive muscular relaxation, a widely recognized relaxation technique used to reduce muscle tension. [3]

Perhaps most interesting are the long-term effects of laughter and the positive emotions that accompany it - Current evidence indicates that cells associated with the immune system are activated through a complex mind-body feedback mechanism. [4]

Stress-produced emotions trigger the release of cortisol and aldosterone, which in substantial amounts may actually decrease the T-cell count - responsible for protecting the body from infections. Stress therefore can significantly impair the immune response. [4]

Conversely, positive thoughts and feelings increase the effectiveness of the T-cells and, hence, strengthen the ability of the immune system to operate against illnesses from common colds to cancer. [4]

Humor and laughter are currently being employed as tools to promote and maintain health everywhere, from the classroom to the boardroom. In addition to its use in preventive medicine, humor also has a role as an intervention and rehabilitation tool in the clinical setting for a host of maladies and illnesses related to stress and life-style. [5]

We spend an inordinate amount of time caring for our cars and homes, yet very little in comparison tending to our own wellbeing. Make yourself a priority, if only for 15 minutes at the end of each day. Watch a comedy show; read a joke book, or look in the mirror while whispering “sweet nothings” to yourself. You may just elicit a smile at first, but practice will soon result in laughter.

Do whatever it takes to make you laugh – the search alone for people, places and things that bring about anything from a chuckle to a full-out belly laugh is therapeutic all on its own.

Try it for just two weeks – You are SO WORTH IT!

“Laughter, like a virus, is contagious.” ~ Art Buchwald

References:

[1] Roger Allen, Human Stress: Its Nature and Control, 2d ed., Burgess Press, Minneapolis, 1992.

[2] Seaward, B PhD, Humor’s Healing Potential Paramount Wellness Institute, Boulder, CO www.brianlukeseaward.net/articles/humor-potential.pdf

[3] William Fry and Waleed Salameh, Handbook of Humor and Psychotherapy: Advances in the Clinical Use of Humor, Professional Resource Exchange, Sarasota, FL, 1987.

[4] Siegel, Peace, Love and Healing.

[5] Barbara Mackoff, "The Business of Laughter," New Woman, October 1991, pp. 74-75.