Laughter
Why does a seagull fly over the sea?
Because if it flew over the bay, it would be a bay-gull…
A positive response to the above joke, hopefully a smile or perhaps a laugh, does more than simply improve your mood. In fact, it has long been believed that humor is critical for one's well being. Charlie Chaplin once said, "Laughter is the tonic, the relief, the surcease from pain." Even as far back as the 17th century, physician Thomas Sydenham said, "The arrival of a good clown exercises more beneficial influence upon the health of a town than that of twenty asses laden with drugs." Until recently, however, there was little serious interest in the medical benefits of laughter. In 1979, Norman Cousins' Anatomy of an Illness was published for the first time. In it, Cousins reported on his miraculous recovery from ankylosing spondylitis, a disintegrating of the connective tissue in the spine, even though his doctors predicted slim chances of recovery. Cousins hypothesized that positive emotions might produce positive chemical changes in his body. With his doctor's support, he stopped taking pain medications, took massive doses of ascorbic acid through intravenous drip, and spent long periods belly laughing in response to "Candid Camera" and Marx Brothers movies. Remarkably, this regimen produced results; within 8 days, Cousins could move his thumbs without pain, and he eventually became completely pain-free (Cousins, 1981). The research prompted by Norman Cousins' incredible 'cure by laughter' indicates that humor has positive physiologic and psychological effects on the body.
How does laughter modulate stress?
What are the physiologic effects of laughter?
How is humor being applied in medicine?
Alternative Medicine | Laughter
Laughter as a Stress Modulator | Physiologic Effects of Laughter | Applications of Humor in Medicine