Laugher Can Be the Best Medicine
Posted by Cynthia Horacek at 5/5/2008 3:00 PM 
Categories: psychotherapy, Psychotherapeutic Technique, Treatment, Musings
Categories: psychotherapy, Psychotherapeutic Technique, Treatment, Musings
I found myself in the hospital recently for some strange and undiagnosed stomach ailment. For some reason, I suddenly had lost my appetite and became extremely nauseous every time I tried to eat solid food. After about 10 days of not eating, I got pretty weak and my doctor admitted me. Hospitals are not one of my favorite places, and being a patient in one is definitely not the same as being a visitor!
So, I was lying there and watching some rerun of a television show and there was scene that was so funny I laughed out loud. I immediately began to feel better. Why is that? What happens in the brain and body when we laugh? And is it true that laughter can heal? Norman Cousins, the author, was diagnosed with ALS - Lou Gehrigs Disease - and watched nothing but Marx Brother's films. He reported that watching 10 minutes of these films provided him with up to 2 hours of "pain free sleep." He also credited "faith, hope and love" with helping to cure him, along with massive doses of vitamin C. Today there are many who believe that Cousins didn't actually reverse a crippling and terminal disease, but that he was misdiagnosed from the beginning and that he actually had a type of arthritis.
So how does laughter help us to feel better, and can it reverse illness? For one thing, laughter releases endorphins into the body - our own natural pain killers. Studies have shown that laughing lowers blood pressure, reduces stress hormones, increases muscle flexion, and boosts immune function by raising levels of infection-fighting T-cells, disease-fighting proteins called Gamma-interferon and B-cells, which produce disease-destroying antibodies.Research results indicate that, after exposure to humor, there is a general increase in activity within the immune system, including:
Laughter is good for your heart, because it causes the blood vessels to dilate enabling more blood to get to the heart.
Laughter provides aerobic activity, increasing the quality of oxygen taken in and giving the diaphragm a workout.
But what about the mental health benefits? Laughter reduces stress and relieves tension, reduces anxiety, anger and depression, increases an optimistic outlook and mood and tends to give people who laugh a lot a better sense of control. Of course, there are people who use humor and laughter to cover up deeper emotions, or to evade an issue. It can be frustrating if you are trying to have a serious conversation with someone who keeps making jokes - especially if you feel they are at your own expense.
There are now therapeutic techniques that involve laughter - "Laugh Therapy" may be the next big wave in psychotherapy. Think about it - most people go to therapy and naturally, the focus is on what is wrong with their life. What if instead of doing that, you went to a therapist who encouraged you to laugh out loud more? Will your problems disappear? Probably not, but you might find having a sense of humor about your problems makes them easier to deal with. Laughter is another way the body has to release emotions, just as crying and physical movement are releases. Some people deal with stress and tension by exercising. They feel better after, and their stress levels are lowered. Just as I explained that laughter releases endorphins, so does exercise. Laughter and humor are two different things. Laughter is a purely physiological process. Babies begin to laugh somewhere between 1 and 3 months, and they are not considering whether or not something is humorous! Laughter is a natural, physiological process and helps us cope with pain and relaxes us, renews our energy and in addition to the above mentioned physical benefits, it also massages our internal organs by increasing our circulation.
In my psychotherapy practice, I find that many people cannot allow themselves to cry - but they can laugh. Many of us learned at an early age that crying is not okay: "Big boys don't cry. Be a big girl; don't cry. Don't let mommy see you crying - you'll upset her. Don't cry in public; people will be uncomfortable" and the list can go on and on. But most of us were not told that laughter was a bad thing. People find it easier to laugh than to cry, and good out loud belly laughing is, as I said, a release.
Laughter does not change the facts of one's life, or people's histories of abuse and other damage. But it can help one to have a brighter outlook, and to view life on the more positive side. Laughter in therapy doesn't take away the focus from the issues that brings people in, and encouraging people to look at the lighter side is not by any means meant to invalidate traumatic histories or emotions and feelings that the client expresses. When people are constricted and fear is a part of how they live, laughter can provide a different frame of reference from which they view life. Using laughter in therapy is encouraging the client to look differently at things, to let go and release pain. Often, "making" others laugh can be about control. Just as I don't want to make people cry or discuss trauma they are not ready to discuss, it is not my intent to make people laugh. My intent is to encourage laughter, and to show people the benefits that result from laughing more often and out loud.
For people who have a history of abuse, chronic pain and illness and depression, focusing on the negatives too much doesn't lead to recovery. It leads to perpetuation of the fear associated with abuse, exacerbation of pain, and deepening of depression. Finding something to laugh about - and creating something to laugh about - leads to recovery. So find something funny. Rent a slapstick comedy, read a book that has humor in it - real, laugh out loud humor. Share jokes with family and friends; go to a comedy performance, watch the comedy channel on t.v. If you find yourself in a place with it all looks gloomy and negative, ask yourself how is it helping you to obsess on the negative? Try distracting you self with something funny; see if you don't feel better after a few minutes of good, honest laughter. Then call me and let me know how it worked!
So, I was lying there and watching some rerun of a television show and there was scene that was so funny I laughed out loud. I immediately began to feel better. Why is that? What happens in the brain and body when we laugh? And is it true that laughter can heal? Norman Cousins, the author, was diagnosed with ALS - Lou Gehrigs Disease - and watched nothing but Marx Brother's films. He reported that watching 10 minutes of these films provided him with up to 2 hours of "pain free sleep." He also credited "faith, hope and love" with helping to cure him, along with massive doses of vitamin C. Today there are many who believe that Cousins didn't actually reverse a crippling and terminal disease, but that he was misdiagnosed from the beginning and that he actually had a type of arthritis.
So how does laughter help us to feel better, and can it reverse illness? For one thing, laughter releases endorphins into the body - our own natural pain killers. Studies have shown that laughing lowers blood pressure, reduces stress hormones, increases muscle flexion, and boosts immune function by raising levels of infection-fighting T-cells, disease-fighting proteins called Gamma-interferon and B-cells, which produce disease-destroying antibodies.Research results indicate that, after exposure to humor, there is a general increase in activity within the immune system, including:
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An increase in the number and activity level of natural killer cells that attack viral infected cells and some types of cancer and tumor cells. |
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An increase in activated T cells (T lymphocytes). There are many T cells that await activation. Laughter appears to tell the immune system to "turn it up a notch." |
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An increase in the antibody IgA (immunoglobulin A), which fights upper respiratory tract insults and infections. |
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An increase in gamma interferon, which tells various components of the immune system to "turn on." |
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An increase in IgB, the immunoglobulin produced in the greatest quantity in body, as well as an increase in Complement 3, which helps antibodies to pierce dysfunctional or infected cells. The increase in both substances was not only present while subjects watched a humor video; there also was a lingering effect that continued to show increased levels the next day. |
Laughter is good for your heart, because it causes the blood vessels to dilate enabling more blood to get to the heart.
Laughter provides aerobic activity, increasing the quality of oxygen taken in and giving the diaphragm a workout.
But what about the mental health benefits? Laughter reduces stress and relieves tension, reduces anxiety, anger and depression, increases an optimistic outlook and mood and tends to give people who laugh a lot a better sense of control. Of course, there are people who use humor and laughter to cover up deeper emotions, or to evade an issue. It can be frustrating if you are trying to have a serious conversation with someone who keeps making jokes - especially if you feel they are at your own expense.
There are now therapeutic techniques that involve laughter - "Laugh Therapy" may be the next big wave in psychotherapy. Think about it - most people go to therapy and naturally, the focus is on what is wrong with their life. What if instead of doing that, you went to a therapist who encouraged you to laugh out loud more? Will your problems disappear? Probably not, but you might find having a sense of humor about your problems makes them easier to deal with. Laughter is another way the body has to release emotions, just as crying and physical movement are releases. Some people deal with stress and tension by exercising. They feel better after, and their stress levels are lowered. Just as I explained that laughter releases endorphins, so does exercise. Laughter and humor are two different things. Laughter is a purely physiological process. Babies begin to laugh somewhere between 1 and 3 months, and they are not considering whether or not something is humorous! Laughter is a natural, physiological process and helps us cope with pain and relaxes us, renews our energy and in addition to the above mentioned physical benefits, it also massages our internal organs by increasing our circulation.
In my psychotherapy practice, I find that many people cannot allow themselves to cry - but they can laugh. Many of us learned at an early age that crying is not okay: "Big boys don't cry. Be a big girl; don't cry. Don't let mommy see you crying - you'll upset her. Don't cry in public; people will be uncomfortable" and the list can go on and on. But most of us were not told that laughter was a bad thing. People find it easier to laugh than to cry, and good out loud belly laughing is, as I said, a release.
Laughter does not change the facts of one's life, or people's histories of abuse and other damage. But it can help one to have a brighter outlook, and to view life on the more positive side. Laughter in therapy doesn't take away the focus from the issues that brings people in, and encouraging people to look at the lighter side is not by any means meant to invalidate traumatic histories or emotions and feelings that the client expresses. When people are constricted and fear is a part of how they live, laughter can provide a different frame of reference from which they view life. Using laughter in therapy is encouraging the client to look differently at things, to let go and release pain. Often, "making" others laugh can be about control. Just as I don't want to make people cry or discuss trauma they are not ready to discuss, it is not my intent to make people laugh. My intent is to encourage laughter, and to show people the benefits that result from laughing more often and out loud.
For people who have a history of abuse, chronic pain and illness and depression, focusing on the negatives too much doesn't lead to recovery. It leads to perpetuation of the fear associated with abuse, exacerbation of pain, and deepening of depression. Finding something to laugh about - and creating something to laugh about - leads to recovery. So find something funny. Rent a slapstick comedy, read a book that has humor in it - real, laugh out loud humor. Share jokes with family and friends; go to a comedy performance, watch the comedy channel on t.v. If you find yourself in a place with it all looks gloomy and negative, ask yourself how is it helping you to obsess on the negative? Try distracting you self with something funny; see if you don't feel better after a few minutes of good, honest laughter. Then call me and let me know how it worked!
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