Humor Your Way to Better Healthby Jo Lee Dibert-Fitko
Cartoonist and Social Worker
"Wipe that smile off your face!" C'mon. The odds are most of us were told that by a father, grandmother or first grade teacher. As we are now mature (?) adults, I'm going to request that you go back and find that wiped-off smile and stick it back on your face. Why? Because it's good for you. That's right. Humor and laughter are good for your health. As a cartoonist, you might expect me to say this, after all, sadness, depression and anger don't produce much funny art. But the facts are I never cartooned or employed an ongoing sense of humor until 1990 at the age of 35 - until I was hospitalized with a pituitary tumor and spinal meningitis. Not a laughing matter you might say? Disease and illness in themselves are of course not funny, but how you approach them and what you choose to do with them can be loaded with mirth. We're repeatedly told that medicine and health are serious issues. Indeed they are. That is all the more reason why we need to lighten up, smile and prescribe ourselves a good healthy dose of humor. Because it's true. Laughter is good medicine for the body, mind and spirit and the evidence is out there.
"He who laughs, lasts." (ancient Norwegian proverb) The knowledge that laughter and humor can be powerful therapy for good physical and emotional health is not new. The root of the word humor is from the Latin word "umor", meaning liquid or fluid. In the Middle Ages, humor referred to an energy that was thought to relate to a body fluid and emotional state. This same energy was believed to determine health. ("He/she is in good humor.") The words, to heal, come from the root word "haelen" which means "to make whole."
To bring these thoughts into a more current focus, one need only look at the work of Dr. Norman Cousins in his 1979 book Anatomy of an Illness. Dr. Cousins was diagnosed with ankylosing spondylitis, a progressive degenerative disease. Other physicians claimed his prognosis to be bleak. Recalling the work of Hans Selye's 1956 book about how negative emotions create chemical changes that are detrimental to health, Cousins flipped the coin and pursued a positive approach instead. Knowing that laughter creates positive emotions, he started watching comedy movies. The result? This approach helped Norman successfully recover. He was so thrilled about the effects of laughter and humor that he spent the last 10 years of his life doing clinical research at UCLA Medical School and established the Humor Task Force.
So, how do humor and laughter actually benefit our health? Humor is a "perception" while laughter is a behavioral response. Thought and action. Together they make a great team. Some exciting research of the last several years has focused specifically on neuroendocrinology, exploring the connection between the nervous system, the endocrine system and the immune system. ( "Pit" patients...listen up!) Chemistry, folks. Stress causes the adrenal glands to release corticosteroids, which convert to cortisol, which in turn works on repressing your immune system. Those same stress hormones restrict blood flow, contribute to muscle tension, respiratory irregularities and digestive problems. So here come some tools we all possess - our buddies laughter and humor. And the effects? Something to be happy about for sure.
Dr. Lee Berk and Dr. Stanley Tam of Loma Linda University in California studied the effects of laughter on the immune system. Stanford University researchers discovered similar results, as did researchers from Harvard Medical School, Ohio State University and Duke University, who actively and regularly incorporate humor and laughter with both patients and staff. The results? Here are some of their findings:
One needn't be a clown or tell jokes to reap the benefits. I do neither, yet know that not one day passes in which I don't laugh or find something humorous about myself, or life, or work, or my family…and yes, even about my health. Like Dr. Cousins, my health improved dramatically. What makes you laugh or what you find humorous varies from person to person. The options are limitless. As Br'er Rabbit declared: "Everybody's got a laughin' place. Trouble is, most folks won't take the time to look for it." I encourage you to take the time. You'll find laughter and humor to be wonderful allies. You'll notice changes in your physical health and a sense of optimism and hope will move right in. You'll discover life's best medicine begins with a smile.1. "T-cells" are increased, allowing you to combat infection better. The nervous system and endocrine system are directly related to the immune system, hence, they all benefit. Continued humor usage contributes to a strengthened immune system and helps fight off future illnesses.
2. Lowering of blood pressure.
3. Decrease in sed rate, indicating a reversal of the inflammatory process.
4. Pain reduction in muscles. Laughter exercises the muscles in the diaphragm, abdomen, respiratory system, face, arms and back. Think of it as a mini-aerobic session.
5. Good for the digestive system. Perhaps it's best to play out the reversal of that. Think about how your stomach and intestines react when you are stressed, nervous or angry. Enough said.
6. Increases energy.
7. Reduces the need for prescription drugs, especially anti-depressants.
8. Reduces anger and anxiety. You feel empowered , more in control of your emotions, it "lightens" the environment around you and increases productivity. Helpful in the workplace and at home.
9. Improves self-esteem dramatically and promotes a more positive outlook.
10. Enhances the ability to learn and retain that learning. Good news for anyone.
11. Allows for a more restful sleep and a brighter outlook upon awakening.
12. Frequent laughter has a cleansing effect on the body, similar to deep breathing.
13. Laughter and humor are social characters. They liked to be shared and are wonderfully addictive and contagious.
Bibliography
Berk, Dr L.S. and Tam, Dr. S.A.(1989). Neuroendocrinology and Stress Hormone
Changes During Mirthful Laughter. American Journal of the Medical Sciences
Cousins, Dr. Norman (1979). Anatomy of An Illness, W.W. Norton
Klein, Dr. Allen (1989). Healing Power of Humor, Tarcher.
McGhee, Dr. Paul (1996). Health, Healing and the Amuse System, Kendall/Hunt.
Wooten, Patty, R.N. (1996) Compassionate Laughter, Commune-A-Key.