Laughter and Healing
The Effects of Laughter on the Healing Process and the Use of Technology to Track Statistics
How Laughter Works
Benefits of Laughter
Using Technology in Humor Research
Humor Therapy
The Effects of Laughter on the Healing Process and the Use of Technology to Track Statistics
In the United States, billions of dollars are spent every year on medical treatments (Diggs, 2004). However, according to Diggs, people often "overlook the coping mechanisms we have been endowed with." The human body has innate mechanisms that provide self-care, which is often better than drugs. The Bible says: "A merry heart doeth good like a medicine, but a broken spirit drieth the bones."
There has been a great deal of research on the effects of laughter on a person's physical and mental health (Diggs, 2004). These studies show that when we laugh, there is an actual chemical change in our bodies that eases pain and releases stress. Laughter serves as coping mechanism for the normal stress of life and may even aid the healing process.
There are two types of stress -- distress, which is negative stress; and eustress, which is positive stress (Diggs, 2004). While distress increases stress hormones such as beta-endorphin, corticotrophin, cortisol, growth hormone, prolactin, and the catecholamines, eustress lowers hormones and increases the activity of Natural Killer (NK) cells that prevent disease and heal (Berk & Tan 1996). Distressful events and major life changes often have a negative impact on a person's health. Stress depletes the immune system's ability to fight disease.
Several studies have examined the stimulating effects of laughter on the circulatory, respiratory, as well as the psychoneuroimmune system and connections within the body. Researhers have found a pattern of stimulation from laughter followed by realization of various body systems. Still, while humor is one of the most prevalent forms of human social behavior, it is still among the least studied or understood.
The purpose of this paper is to address the question of whether laughter plays a role in the healing process. The literature review will include studies on laughter and humor in the medical industry, then discuss some of the mechanisms by which humor and laughter are believed to affect health.
How Laughter Works
Laughter is a type of eustress that releases the negative emotions that cause harmful chemical effects on the body (Berk and Tan, 1996) (Diggs, 2004). Similar to exercise, there are two stages to laughter: the arousal phase -- when the heart rate increases -- and the resolution phase -- when the heart rests. A person's heart can increase to120 beats per minute (bpm) when laughing. Laughing can lower a person's blood pressure, increase vascular flow, and improve the immune system. It works out the diaphragm, abdominal, intercostal, respiratory accessory, and facial muscles. Laughter also releases endorphins in the brain; which are the bodies' natural painkillers (Wooten, 1995).
Nearly 2000 years ago, the physician Galen said that cheerful women were less likely to get cancer than depressed women (Simonton, 1978) (Diggs, 2004). John Steinbeck wrote: "A sad soul can kill you quicker, far quicker, than a germ." Laughter's painkilling elements and its ability to fight disease have added a new area of research to cancer. Researchers O. Carl Simonton, M.D. And Stephanie Matthews-Simonton (1978) demonstrated that a person's emotional status affects their likelihood of getting or overcoming cancer. Perhaps, if people would start relieving their stress through laughter before they get cancer, there might be a reduction in the total number of cancer patients.
Review of Existing Literature
According to Christopher Kent (2001): "A frequent question asked by patients and practitioners is "To what extent do intent, attitude and touch affect health outcomes?" Although these issues may seem unrelated to the technical aspects of health care, a growing body of evidence suggests that such factors may significantly affect the healing process." recent study (Bunnell, 1999) examined whether "healing with intent" had a proven effect on pepsin enzyme activity (Kent, 2001). The rate of breakdown of egg albumin by a one...
Laughter is the Best Medicine? A 2099 University of Maryland study of individuals with heart disease yielded the striking finding that there is scientific evidence that the act of laughing does have health-promoting effects. A study of 300 participants compared the responses of multiple-choice questionnaires designed to measure how much the subjects laughed in certain situations and general responses to anger and hostility. Half the subjects were known to have had
" Hence, Ayan adds, with laughter, the lives of people with elevated levels of cortisol might be saved. Arguably that's a bit of a stretch, but for the purposes of his article Ayan is justified in using it. Keeping anxiety "at bay" through humor is the sum and substance of a 1990 study conducted by psychologists; 53 college students were told they were going to get an electric shock in 12
Humor and Health: The evolutionary benefits of laughing easily According to Mora-Ripoli (2012), the old cliche that laughter is the best medicine is really true: laughter, even in the absence of something that is funny, can actually be healing. "Laughter can lead to direct physiological changes to the muscular, cardiovascular, immune, and neuroendocrine systems, which would have immediate or long-term beneficial effects to the body" (Mora-Ripoli 2013:57). Although humor can provoke laughter,
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