laughter best medicine essay

laughter best medicine essay

The Healing Power of Laughter: An In-Depth Exploration

1. Introduction to Laughter as Medicine

This thesis begins with the premise that such actions are indeed intentional. And although the instinctual smile or infant’s laughter may be endowed by nature for reasons of survival of self and species, much of the humor or laughter produced in humans has conscious goals apart from the physiological responses of appreciation for the humorous stimulus.

Laughter may be a unique instrument of healing by harnessing the communication medium of language, which has the capacity to provoke body-wrecking vibrations without producing negative consequences when the device – a humorous stimulus – is operated by compatible hands, i.e., a benevolent disposition. Humans use this stimulus to punch an escape button, which is said to be one of the pleasures of humans and has been skillfully portrayed in many mediums. Moreover, it is generally believed that, more than any other animal, humans are endowed with the gift of laughter – the ability to actively produce humor – and cognitive sophistication to perceive and appreciate all the complexities surrounding humor creation.

2. The Psychological and Physiological Benefits of Laughter

The point that humor may be exactly like laughter. Turner and Ports, in turn, considered the psychological and physiological benefits of laughter. In the early pages of their work, they discussed cognitive and emotional laughter exercises or scenarios used in mediation or counseling. Because the cognitive lagging laughter exercises are explicitly not generally perceived to be humor only. They briefly dealt with the concept of humor separately, indicating that the ideas might be particularly useful in applying laughter to mediation with individuals. Subsequently, a whistle-stop world tour was undertaken, dealing with humor and laughter as therapeutic interventions. It was apparent that there are an increasing number of mediational uses of humor and lagging that are a subject of interest to both counselors and mediators. Examples included laughter yoga, laughter meditation, laughter dance exercises. Also appearing were articles discussing humor and laughter in response to conflict, and finally, literature dealing with the desires of their clients or practitioners, including reframing, metaphor, and methods for helping people at work.

Recent medical schemata to practice his utilization of determinedly recommended treatments fostered by Benj. Waterproof. Waterproof remarked in the same spirit. Recent observations emerging from the medical ferrologist here is some real good in life-saving, but such are not impressed any longer by a prison now, but rather by laughter or heartfelt sense of humor. Konistone et al. See and Nithmand and have restated her enthusiasm for humor that’s won by writing about it in general medical and patient-oriented media. Nevertheless, it has been well over a century and the literature dealing with the phenomena of humor and laughter and its relevance to health, previously referred to by semi-retired CAM when discussing the medical shellaws of life and emphasizing the enjoyment part of life without giving humor a break. The state of humor should be rewarded. A few fallacies that we believe are worth correcting, and we are not bothered by inverting the hecklers. They have concerns with and performed a review of the psychological and psychological benefits of humor. They considered that not only were the putative benefits useful in a medical sense, but also work-related, could be found in laughter, thereby suggesting that the workplace might benefit. In fact, stress relief in the workplace as well.

Cannon, in the early part of the 20th century, demonstrated with his colleagues the physiological and psychological benefits of laughter. He gave a report at the Institute of Medicine on the biological grounds of emotions and argued that pure emotions created arousals that might benefit the physiological state in response to long-term stressors such as adrenaline and serotonin. He says that the good of laughter may be explained by the fact that the brain is large. Every feeling comes into and out of the brain, and both activities will buy any after all. When anyone laughs, the breath expels a gallon of air from the lungs, and then the blood is freed from the stability of a small absolute of gas, just as the limbs are surplus at the same time. These residues from the brain will very much disturb any action. H.L., in a series of guarded and subject experiments, mainly the result of his broader theoretical understanding of physiology, has put an end to the factual basis for a persistent myth. His conclusions were wide. H.P. opined that excess radiation could destroy the body. But it is reported that he was aware that he could produce emotional responses of his subjects to humor that perhaps benefited them emotionally. As Moor previously remarked, the orthogonality of instant wisdom to see only your side of something is such… but leaving the aspect of mi*ratioM aside, these combined arguments seem greatly in harmony with the current understanding of the psychological and physiological impact of laughter. Kashi is a noted scientist and advocate of oxygen. He has recommended humor for healing and humor and laughter therapy for about as long as H.L.

3. Laughter Therapy: Techniques and Applications

Moreover, laughter therapy can be a ‘grease’ which allows individuals and groups to connect and interact in a more cohesive, flexible, and cooperative way after applying metaphor, goodwill, relaxation, and flexibility, among others. Several studies have stressed that many elderly subjects and employees in long-term care and caregivers working with them. Their lives consist of exercises of laughter, which do not require that they accept jokes in order to produce laughter. Laughter produces fewer endorphins, which reduce annoyance and negative emotions. However, even in labs, laughter therapy and other types of routine laughter can help improve cognitive function and wellbeing by responding to stimuli and by interacting differently. In view of this, the practicing of the various outputs of laughter therapy is by definition positively related and contributes strongly to satisfying the needs of the exact practitioners.

Common techniques used in laughter therapy include playfulness induction (using activities that suggest play), humor induction (creating fun and enjoyment), laughter meditation (‘meditating’ with a view to considering laughter), and yoga laughter (hiding traditional yoga movements and breathing techniques). On a bigger scale, laughter can be incorporated into society in general, for example, in the form of laughter workshops for companies, camelization associations, support for schools, wellness and tourism, dictator preservatives, politics in general, personal development, or work as a laughter professional, and practitioners on laughter. Beneficial effects of interventions on laughter have been demonstrated in various contexts, such as hospitals, nursing homes, schools, educational institutions, controls, clinics, welfare, wellness programs, and family humor therapy. When entering these patients, laughter therapy can also shorten the duration of their stay in care facilities and help them perform their professional services more effectively.

4. Cultural Perspectives on Humor and Healing

When scholars began examining the relationship between humor, laughter, and health at the beginning of the 20th century, some were specifically interested in culture’s role in promoting laughter and humor as positive healing forces. Currently, insights from a wide range of social science disciplines (e.g., literature, sociology, anthropology, media studies) into diverse cultural definitions, characteristics, and evaluations of humor exist, many of which may have direct relevance for medical humor studies. However, the current medical paradigm examining the potential healing effects of humor and laughter overwhelmingly and perhaps unwittingly supports Western, English-speaking, Anglocentric, even middle-class assumptions. This skewed cultural perspective of the healing benefits of humor and laughter requires a broader, more comparative approach to both theory and practice. A significant body of cross-disciplinary work provides evidence that questions the cultural neutrality of humor-related phenomena. Theoretical models of stress, emotion, mental illness, and mental health have all embraced cultural dimensions that are complex and difficult to fully disentangle from other cognitive-emotional processes. These cultural factors might interact with humor effects differently, perhaps in a group-focused manner, as opposed to adhering to leader- or individual-focused cultural differences. Such interactions could be manipulated and used to initiate or maintain interpersonal relationships or increase psychotherapeutic treatment compliance with humor interventions collaboratively addressed by joke teller and joke recipient.

It is crucial to remember that our current understanding of the emotional, cognitive, and physical well-being effects of humor and laughter are based on singular, highly developed cultural storylines and assumptions. Focusing on Western perceptions of humor, there is a widely held belief that laughter and humor are important for physical health. In the early 20th century, scholars began examining scientific evidence for these beliefs. By the close of the 20th century, there were numerous papers published about the associations between various facets of emotional well-being and health, including physical health, although researchers began to call for a serious re-examination of the data in order to help clarify and assess the possibility that psychological issues, such as belief and bias, may actually have been affecting findings all along.

5. Future Directions in Laughter Research and Practice

Decades of controlled laboratory research offer evidence to support the fundamental tenet that experiencing humor is a potent force in promoting both physical and psychological good health and buffering people against the ill effects of life stresses. On the other hand, precious little is known regarding the relative influence over time of the consumption of invigorating jokes and humor and the impact of circulating, via laughter, the resultant sense of joy and enjoyment and bonding that arise from entertainment events. Given the high level of interest and activity that already exist in this area of salutary entertainment, it seems logical that practice and education research should be initiated here to explore what it is about shared humor and laughter that facilitates adaptation to stress and diminishes illness, thus serving as powerful relaxants, emotional rechargers, and social connectors. Such practice efforts will need to be diverse in nature, ranging from mass media programming that seeks to tap the benefits of shared enjoyment entertainment to institutional arrangements designed to promote routine enjoyment of surrounding social and physical environments. Such pursuits will require systems for measuring the beneficial outcomes of interest, assessing the degree of beneficial outcomes, developmental funds for research and practice, and policies in critical areas such as institutional operation for healthcare, long-term care, social services, and education. Only with such a concerted effort in place can our societal love relationship with humor and laughter assist in mitigating the impact of stressful events and negative emotion as cancer survivors, dealing with physical, emotional, and financial threats, interact with grief and loss due to the leukemias and those who care for them.

To the extent that humor and laughter do have the potential to serve as a key tool in the arsenal against serious health threats, it would follow logically that research and practice directions should be pursued that could optimize the use of that tool. At this juncture, however, the dearth of understanding regarding the operation of laughter as a health-enhancing agent precludes offering a precise blueprint for practice directions. This chapter offers a comprehensive and diverse banquet of topics to be consumed and digested in both research and practice that would be conducive to deepening understanding regarding the beneficial physical, social, and emotional repercussions of humor and laughter in everyday life.