laughter is the best medicine essay

laughter is the best medicine essay

Exploring the Healing Power of Laughter: An Essay on the Benefits of Humor in Health and Well-being

1. Introduction: The Age-Old Adage

There also exists an emerging experimental evidence that legitimate laughter is capable of enhancing robustness to stress and infection in both rodents and birds. This chapter hopes to develop a coherent framework that transcends the traditional positions concerning humor and health. Through an analysis of the literary, psychological, and therapeutic aspects of laughter, as well as an examination of the philosophical foundation of humor therapy, the relative merits of the positions may simultaneously thrive. Similarly, by viewing humor and laughter from multiple perspectives and by considering distinct explanatory possibilities that derive from various domains of knowledge, people may have a deeper, more specific understanding of the potentially beneficial and inexorably complex relationship between humor and health.

The saying “laughter is the best medicine” is really not a new concept at all. Throughout history, humor and laughter have played a variety of roles in helping people cope with serious life problems, including serving as a recognized therapeutic tool. The ancient Greek philosopher and scholar, Aristotle, was one of the first individuals to shine a light on the concept of humor and its potential health effects, postulating that humor can have a profound, positive impact on human anxiety and, indeed, overall human mental well-being. The concept of the healing properties of humor is a common, recurrent basis for much classic literary, musical, and other artistic works including those in the West and the East. Laughter has also been the focus of numerous scientific studies including those examining the use of spontaneous humor in individual therapy, laughter exercises, and humor training programs, as well as investigation of potential health benefits.

2. The Science Behind Laughter and Health

According to Morreall, the scientific investigation of humor, much like that of love, has proven to be a rather difficult task. Researchers across a range of disciplines continue to grapple with such questions as what exactly humor is or why people laugh. Nonetheless, the study of humor and laughter and its relationship to the health of mind and body has come a long way, thanks to the physiological measures that researchers have developed to study their subjects, including laugh tracks on tape, automated skullcap electrodes to record electrical activity from the brain, and sensors that record temperature changes on the clavicle. What science has found about the health benefits of laughter is that its physiological response is heightened during the experience of humor and that this response benefits the human body. The common description of humor as “medicine” is literal. A carefree laughter reaction allows humans to blow off steam, boosts feelings of pleasure and safety, sends oxygen surging through our body’s bloodstream, ensures vitality, strengthens our immune system, and assists in protecting us from heart disease and anxiety.

3. Psychological Benefits of Laughter

Laughter has also been shown to improve the functioning of the immune system. Research conducted at Loma Linda University School of Medicine in California discovered that when people watched a humorous video, their stress levels decreased and an important immune system cell, the NK (natural killer) cell, functioned more effectively in combating illnesses. This finding supports the work of Dr. Lee Berk, the lead researcher in a study that revealed that laughter prompts the body to release killer cells and other defenses. When the researchers studied individuals viewing a humorous video, the laughter produced an immediate beneficial effect on the level of activity of the immune system. Dr. Berk surmises that laughter may “reduce inflammation, improve blood flow, increase the release of cancer-killing cells in the body, and increase levels of interferon gamma, a hormone that can combat Parkinson’s disease and at least two types of cancer.” Finally, laughter has been found to be beneficial for the cardiovascular system because it dilates blood vessels and improves heart function.

Laughter’s positive effects on health are supported by copious scientific research. Laughter alleviates stress, which is one of the reasons why experts declare that “laughter is the best medicine.” When people experience humor, their bodies respond biochemically in a way that makes them feel better. A big laugh leads to the release of endorphins, the hormone that makes us feel good. Laughter gives rise to a blissful and refreshing sensation that reinvigorates the mind and body. Stress is decreased; people feel uplifted, relaxed, and subsequently more focused, alert, and energetic.

4. Social and Emotional Aspects of Humor

A serious tension within the study of humor is evident from discussions of the question regarding humor’s essence. There is little humor in laughter caused by nonsocial stimuli, such as laughter resulting from tachypsychia (a sensation of time dilation reported by some individuals during traumatic events) or laughter issuing from tickle-defined as self-induced or caused by rapid bilateral palm-to-palm tactile stroking of the body by another person-followed by a Groucho Marx-like exclamation, “Stop it!” and associated by the feeling of laughter suppression. Central to our conception of laughter and associated with its physiological response are the social and emotional aspects of humor: laughter triggers health benefits, yet physical or mental health are not the cause of laughter. Rather, well-being, characterized by humor and play, leads to laughter and its many benefits. Thus, laughter is the product of emotional well-being. In a sense, hostility may be one affective component of the amusing experience. We should not avoid the hard side of humor.

Though humor and laughter stem from positive emotions, humor’s effects are not uniformly positive. Sometimes humor is negative, in the form of a mean-spirited jest or a vulgar joke, and at other times, humor is simply inappropriate, as when cracking jokes at a funeral. The study of humor emphasizes that humor is not a good medicine for every patient or disease. Favorable outcomes attributed to humor depend on a vast array of patient and context variables, ranging from genetic predispositions (a moderate heritability for a general sense of humor) to the duration, intensity, and scope of the disease process. Prescription of humor, then, is an individualized process. Humor or laughter is not a tonic. One person’s meat is another’s poison. Laughter may not be the best medicine. What we can affirm is a simple truth: without humor, the body breaks.

5. Practical Ways to Incorporate Laughter into Daily Life

These services do not seek to supplant ongoing advancements in dental treatment technologies or traditional care support tools nor do they set out to compete with play specialists. Rather, insights applied during planning and delivery to provide children and their families with brief respite from fear and discomfort can also positively impact other dental care professionals.

While our own work is undertaken in the context of pediatric care, there is clear potential for these services to be adapted for a range of public health, mental health, and primary care scenarios. Our experiences and lessons learned may be particularly germane to those looking to offer a focus on the patient’s relaxation and well-being. Indeed, we believe it should be a priority in scenarios such as dental clinics where stress and fear can cause damage to medical staff, such as hearing and voice loss that can result from long-term exposure.

In our work, we have consistently used these insights to inspire and direct our design of innovative interactional services for children suffering from painful and distressing conditions, primarily at dental clinics. Though the individual care that a dental patient receives during treatments is the main objective, our findings suggest that providing such services may offer important benefits to patients, their families, and the health professionals. In addition, these benefits can be obtained with low financial investment in terms of space, materials, and devices.

A robust body of research supports the use of humor and laughter in promoting better patient care practices. Historically, humor has long been recognized for its potential to alleviate pain through the use of comedy and slapstick, and modern research has spectacularly supported and broadened this understanding, showing that laughter can yield several positive physical and psychological health benefits.