Laughter Is A Powerful Medicine
The value of laughter is recorded down the ages. By the fourteenth century, the healing power of humor was recognized by the medical community. An important French surgeon, Henri de Mondeville (1260-1320), wrote, "Let the surgeon take care to regulate the whole regimen of the patient's life for joy and happiness, allowing his relatives and special friends to cheer him, and by having someone tell him jokes."
Watch the video opposite and enjoy some laughter. |
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Laughter can be a powerful antidote to depression and anxiety – without a prescription and without side effects. Laughter relieves tension, improves our sense of well-being, serves as an outlet for anger and provides a healthy escape from reality.
Research has proven the benefits of laughter for our mental health. In one study, says Faiz Qadri, MD, director of the Creighton University Mood Disorders Clinic, movie-watching patients who watched only comedies for three months had measurably more enhanced positive attitude and social interaction than patients who watched a variety of types of movies. “I recommend to my patients that they watch a comedy every week,” he says.
Our brains actually process laughter to produce mood-lifting brain chemicals. “Laughter causes our body to release a bath of serotonin and other "feel good" chemicals into the blood stream and opens us up to experiencing a situation differently,” says Tian Dayton PhD, author of Emotional Sobriety: From Relationship Trauma to Resilience and Balance. “It reduces at least four of the neuroendocrine hormones associated with the stress response: epinephrine, cortisol, dopac, and growth hormone.”
Here are some of the ways laughter can help you:
* Laughter may strengthen the immune system by activating cells that attack viruses.
* Laughing may lower blood pressure for some by inducing relaxation and preventing the release of stress hormones such as cortisol.
* Some describe laughter as “internal jogging” as you inhale oxygen which stimulates heart and blood circulation.
* Laughter can trigger the release of endorphins which give you a sense of well being. These endorphins are also natural painkillers. * It is possible that the stimulation of particular cerebral regions, involved in depression pathogenesis, and the normalization of the hypothalamic pituitary adrenocortical system dysfunctions, both mediated by laughter, can counteract efficiently depressive symptoms.
* Laughing can reduce stress and anxiety because it naturally relaxes you. Laughter induces your heart rate to slow down and your blood pressure to decrease.
* Some experts say that laughter increases our creativity as it encourages a new perspective to look at things.
* Laughing with others may be the best way to reap the benefits of laughter as it improves our mood through social connection and an increased feeling of belonging. Laughing with friends can decrease feelings of alienation and lowers our risk for depression.
Research has proven the benefits of laughter for our mental health. In one study, says Faiz Qadri, MD, director of the Creighton University Mood Disorders Clinic, movie-watching patients who watched only comedies for three months had measurably more enhanced positive attitude and social interaction than patients who watched a variety of types of movies. “I recommend to my patients that they watch a comedy every week,” he says.
Our brains actually process laughter to produce mood-lifting brain chemicals. “Laughter causes our body to release a bath of serotonin and other "feel good" chemicals into the blood stream and opens us up to experiencing a situation differently,” says Tian Dayton PhD, author of Emotional Sobriety: From Relationship Trauma to Resilience and Balance. “It reduces at least four of the neuroendocrine hormones associated with the stress response: epinephrine, cortisol, dopac, and growth hormone.”
Here are some of the ways laughter can help you:
* Laughter may strengthen the immune system by activating cells that attack viruses.
* Laughing may lower blood pressure for some by inducing relaxation and preventing the release of stress hormones such as cortisol.
* Some describe laughter as “internal jogging” as you inhale oxygen which stimulates heart and blood circulation.
* Laughter can trigger the release of endorphins which give you a sense of well being. These endorphins are also natural painkillers. * It is possible that the stimulation of particular cerebral regions, involved in depression pathogenesis, and the normalization of the hypothalamic pituitary adrenocortical system dysfunctions, both mediated by laughter, can counteract efficiently depressive symptoms.
* Laughing can reduce stress and anxiety because it naturally relaxes you. Laughter induces your heart rate to slow down and your blood pressure to decrease.
* Some experts say that laughter increases our creativity as it encourages a new perspective to look at things.
* Laughing with others may be the best way to reap the benefits of laughter as it improves our mood through social connection and an increased feeling of belonging. Laughing with friends can decrease feelings of alienation and lowers our risk for depression.
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Extensive research on 'laughter therapy' did not begin until after the New England Journal of Medicine published an article by Norman Cousins in 1976. Later, in 1979, this article became the first chapter of his book, 'Anatomy of an Illness.' In it he explained how he was diagnosed in 1964 with ankylosing spondylitis (also known as spondylitis, AS, or Bechterew Disease). The disease usually results in acute inflammation of the spine and can affect other areas of the body as well. Norman Cousins' case was so severe that he was given a one in five hundred chance of recovery and a few months to live.
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Realizing that negative thoughts and attitudes can result in illness, he reasoned that positive thoughts and attitudes may have the opposite effect. So he left the hospital and checked into a hotel where he took mega doses of vitamin C and watched humorous movies and shows, including 'Candid Camera' and the Marx Brothers. He found that ten minutes of boisterous laughter resulted in at least two hours of pain-free sleep. He continued his routine until he recovered. Thus, he proved that laughter is the best medicine, and pointed the way to mind-body medicine.
William Fry, M.D., professor of psychiatry at Stanford University Medical School and expert on health and laughter, reports the average kindergarten student laughs 300 times a day. Yet, adults average just 17 laughs a day. Why the difference? Are we too uptight, too tense? Do we take life too seriously? Isn't it time we learned how to relax? We don't stop laughing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop laughing. So, if we want to fly like the angels and share in their happiness, we'll have to follow their example and take ourselves lightly.
Our five senses are not enough for ideal living. We need to use our sixth sense: our sense of humor. Humor isn't about merely telling jokes; it's the way we view the world. We can be sincere about life without taking it so seriously. We can laugh about our mistakes and pain. Louis Kronenberger explains: "Humor simultaneously wounds and heals, indicts and pardons, diminishes and enlarges; it constitutes inner growth at the expense of outer gain, and those who posses and honestly practice it make themselves more through a willingness to make themselves less."
Recent Research
Presented at a meeting of the American College of Cardiology in Orlando, Florida, the two studies showed how psychological factors could affect a person's health.
”We don’t recommend that you laugh and not exercise, but we do recommend that you try to laugh on regular basis. Thirty minutes of exercise three times a week, and 15 minutes of laughter on a daily basis is probably good for the vascular system,” said Dr Michael Miller of the University of Maryland School of Medicine in Baltimore.
In the experiment, researchers showed two movies, one humorous and the other stressful to 20 healthy volunteers and monitor the blood vessels’ reaction. The researchers specifically looked at the endothelium, the linking of the vessels, and found that the blood flow was reduced 35% in 14 of the 20 volunteers after watching the stressful movie clips. However in 19 of the 20 volunteers who laughed at the funny movie segments, blood flowed 22% more freely.
“The endothelium is the first line in the development of the atherosclerosis or hardening of the arteries, so, given the result of our study, it is conceivable that laughing may be important to maintain a healthy endothelium, and reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease”. Miller said.
“The magnitude of change we saw in the endothelium is similar to the benefit we might see with aerobic activity, but without the aches, pains and muscle tension associated with exercise”.
William Fry, M.D., professor of psychiatry at Stanford University Medical School and expert on health and laughter, reports the average kindergarten student laughs 300 times a day. Yet, adults average just 17 laughs a day. Why the difference? Are we too uptight, too tense? Do we take life too seriously? Isn't it time we learned how to relax? We don't stop laughing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop laughing. So, if we want to fly like the angels and share in their happiness, we'll have to follow their example and take ourselves lightly.
Our five senses are not enough for ideal living. We need to use our sixth sense: our sense of humor. Humor isn't about merely telling jokes; it's the way we view the world. We can be sincere about life without taking it so seriously. We can laugh about our mistakes and pain. Louis Kronenberger explains: "Humor simultaneously wounds and heals, indicts and pardons, diminishes and enlarges; it constitutes inner growth at the expense of outer gain, and those who posses and honestly practice it make themselves more through a willingness to make themselves less."
Recent Research
Presented at a meeting of the American College of Cardiology in Orlando, Florida, the two studies showed how psychological factors could affect a person's health.
”We don’t recommend that you laugh and not exercise, but we do recommend that you try to laugh on regular basis. Thirty minutes of exercise three times a week, and 15 minutes of laughter on a daily basis is probably good for the vascular system,” said Dr Michael Miller of the University of Maryland School of Medicine in Baltimore.
In the experiment, researchers showed two movies, one humorous and the other stressful to 20 healthy volunteers and monitor the blood vessels’ reaction. The researchers specifically looked at the endothelium, the linking of the vessels, and found that the blood flow was reduced 35% in 14 of the 20 volunteers after watching the stressful movie clips. However in 19 of the 20 volunteers who laughed at the funny movie segments, blood flowed 22% more freely.
“The endothelium is the first line in the development of the atherosclerosis or hardening of the arteries, so, given the result of our study, it is conceivable that laughing may be important to maintain a healthy endothelium, and reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease”. Miller said.
“The magnitude of change we saw in the endothelium is similar to the benefit we might see with aerobic activity, but without the aches, pains and muscle tension associated with exercise”.