Laughter and Healing
The Effects of Laughter on the Healing Process and the Use of Technology to Track Statistics

How Laughter Works

enefits 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 ible 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…...

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Bibliography

Berk LS, Felten DL, Tan SA, et al.: "Modulation of neuroimmune parameters during the eustress of humor-associated mirthful laughter." Alternative Therapies 2000; Vol. 7, No. 2, Pages 62-76.

Berk, Lee, Dr. P.H., M.P.H. & Stanley Tan, M.D. Ph.D. (1996). "The Laughter-Immune Connection." Available from: (17 April 1997).http://www.touchstarpro.com/laughbb3.html

Bunnell T: "The effect of 'healing with intent' on pepsin enzyme activity." Journal of Scientific Exploration 1999; Vol. 13, No. 2, Article 1.

Cousins, Norman (1979). Anatomy of an Illness As Perceived by the Patient. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc.

Life can be very stressful. It would be helpful if there were actually "time outs" during the day for hearing a couple of jokes or watching a 15-minute humorous video. If it is true that it can be as healthy as aerobics, then we are getting double the advantage -- both a mental and physiological benefit.
ecently I have read a few articles about nursing homes hiring "comic coaches," to come in and cheer up the residents. Given the fact that many of these individuals have been alone for days except for staff, because they either do not have family or people live too far away to visit often, this added humor can surely be of great benefit. As noted by Berk, many of these elderly men and women are bedridden or in wheelchairs. What better way to have their body respond than through laughter?

Overall, it amazes me that so…...

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References:

Berk, R.A. (2001) the active ingredients in humor. Educational Gerontology. 27, 323-339.

Burchowski, M., Majchrazak, K., Blomquist, K. Chen, K., Byrne, D., and Bachorowski, J. (2007). Energy expenditure of genuine laughter. 31(1), 131-137

Martin, R. (2002). Is laughter the best medicine? Current Directions in Psychological Science. 11(6), 218-220

Miller M & Fry W.F. (2009) the effect of mirthful laughter on the human cardiovascular system. Med Hypotheses. 73(5), 636-639.

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 heart disease and the other half did not and the individuals who had not suffered from heart disease had significantly more humorous responses to everyday situations than the experimental group (Murray 2009).

In this quantitative study, the design was purely correlational rather than causative. It could be argued that participants who responded with what the researchers considered to be more positive, lighthearted choices could have better had healthcare, not have been a part of historically discriminated-against groups and have had a…...

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References

Murray, M. (2009). Laughter is the best medicine for your heart. University of Maryland

Medical.  http://umm.edu/news-and-events/news-releases/2009/laughter-is-the-best-medicine-for-your-heart 

Shah, Y. (2014). New study proves laughter really is the best medicine. The Huffington Post.

Retrieved from:  http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/04/22/laughter-and-memory_n_5192086.html

Redeeming Laughter: Chapter 14 Summary and Reaction
In the last section of his book, Redeeming Laughter, "PART III. TOWARD A THEOLOGY OF THE COMIC," Peter Berger teases out the fundamental project of his entire text, which is to make an argument for the comic as a critic of society today, much as the fool or jester was a critic of ages past. If this does not sound so different from his valorization of the satirist over the mere crafter of wit, it should be noted that Berger does not see comics merely a la John Stewart, that is political gadflies, but also redeemers of the human spirit.

In Chapter 14 of his text, Berger states that although a comic might stand outside of the cultural milieu, but a comic never sees him or herself as above humanity. Rather, comics help their fellow, although sometimes less perspicuous, fellow humans gain a more balanced…...

" 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 minutes albeit there was no such shock forthcoming. hile waiting for this inevitable shock, some of the students were given a funny tape to watch while others watched a boring tape or nothing at all. The results were predictable: those exposed to humor "rated themselves as less anxious as the fictitious shock approached than did those in the other two groups" (Ayan).

In yet another study presented by Ayan to make his point, 56 women were asked to stick a hand…...

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Works Cited

Ayan, Steve. (2009). How Humor Makes you Friendlier, Sexier. Scientific American.

Redeeming Laughter: The Comic Dimension of Human Experience
In his book, Redeeming Laughter: The Comic Dimension of Human Experience, the author Peter Berger's Chapter 9: "The Comic as Game of Intellect: Wit "and Chapter 10: "The Comic as Weapon: Satire" takes on two of the most frequently derided yet feared forms of inspiring humor and catalogues examples of comics who make use of these two forms of humor which he alleges are essentially linked, but also possess certain crucial distinct differences between the two of them. At first glance, the similarities between wit and satire may seem to be obvious -- however, although the title of Berger's book is Redeeming Laughter, neither wit nor satire is often thought of as potentially redeeming. Both tend to be thought of as deflating, harsh methods of inflicting humor upon others. However, Berger makes the case that highly crated witty forms of wit such as…...

Each chapter provides sufficient entertainment material to draw the interest of lay people, while balancing this with a good amount of academic information for those who wish to study the country and its people. The narrative throughout the book is bound together well by starting each chapter with a narrative about Gloria or those who share her world. Another strong connecting factor is the quotation at the start of each chapter, which is relevant to the specific topic of the chapter as well as to the general ideas in the book as a whole. While these are excellent techniques, I think the structure of the chapters themselves could have been handled better by more consistently organizing the information in each.
One shortcoming of the book is the internal structure of each chapter, which can be haphazard in some cases, and also a lack of consistent focus on the laughter element.…...

Humor and Health:
The evolutionary benefits of laughing easily

According to Mora-ipoli (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-ipoli 2013:57). Although humor can provoke laughter, the two are not necessarily conjoined and even forced laughter produces positive physiological changes in the body in terms of heart rate, blood pressure, and other critical factors that have benefits for the subject. This suggests that laughter is not a cultural product but an advantageous biological 'adaption' of the human species as a social animal.

The unique benefits of laughter (as opposed to humor or enjoying something entertaining) are tied to its mutuality. Although it is certainly possible to laugh…...

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References

Blue, L. (2010). Recipe for longevity. Time Magazine. Retrieved:

 http://content.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,2006938,00.html 

Bokur, D. (n.d.). What's funny? Yoga Journal. Retrieved:

 http://www.yogajournal.com/lifestyle/298

And Sellers plays the repressed social engineer Strangelove, the timid Merkin Muffley, and the persevering Mandrake -- all with mechanical precision. Kubrick's unflinching camera acts as a character, too, slyly observing the exposition of humanity in all its grimly humorous glory.
This film belongs to a culture that has rejected the status quo -- the quaint picturesque comedies of the 1940s and 1950s; it belongs to a culture that is bordering on nihilism, anarchy, revolution -- anything that will help it to get away from the culture that has brought us the faceless, nameless idiots running the ar Room in Dr. Strangelove. The film offers no solutions -- it only asks us to present ourselves to world with fresh eyes, a pure soul able and willing to laugh at its human foibles and failings, and begin to meditate upon a new direction, a new solution perhaps to the problem of…...

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Works Cited

Aristotle. Poetics. Sacred-texts. 13 May 2013. Web. < http://www.sacred-

texts.com/cla/ari/poe/poe06.htm>

Bergson, Henri. Laughter: An Essay on the Meaning of the Comic. NY: MacMillan,

1914. Print.

Each author subsisted to two (2) different kinds of perspectives, which make up the second and third critical elements of the comparative analysis component of this paper.
Berger analyzed humor based on social and political perspectives. Usage of these perspectives was most useful in discussing the two typologies of humor he thoroughly discussed in the book: satire and folly. Satire as a type of humor drew upon important concept that makes up its core: "militant irony" (158-9). Folly, meanwhile, was best characterized through the concepts "absurd" and "reality in a looking glass" (176).

Satire gives humor a political aspect to it, as illustrated in the term "military irony," which Berger defined as "a term derived from war, it is an attitude of attack that is part of a campaign against someone or something." Interestingly, the author qualified that satire need not have the 'brutality' that comes with military irony; however, he…...

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Works Cited

Berger, P. (1997). Redeeming Laughter: the Comic Dimension of Human Experience. Walter de Gruyter.

Critchley, S. (2002). On Humour. Routledge.

Similarly, I often spend time with friends, rather than time with my family.
My goals do not necessarily coincide with what matters to me. When I think of my goals, I generally think of owning things such as a car or house, going to school, and earning a specific amount of money. If my goals were perfectly in line with my stated values, they would likely focus more on building and maintaining important family relationships.

However, I believe it is possible to achieve my goals and keep my values at the same time. This can be easily achieved if I manage my time carefully in order to always allow time for my relationships with my family and friends.

My Values

Pre 9/11/01

__1_ Having Fun

____ Time Alone

__5_ Love

____ Service

__2_ Family

____ Intellectual Discussions

__3_ Friends

____ Honesty

____ Integrity

____ Health

____ Integrity

____ Safety

____ Peace

____ Religion

__4_ Money

____ Work

____ School

____ Parties

____ Kindness

____ Fairness

____ Laughter

Post 9/11/01 (Sept-Jan)

__5_ Having Fun

____ Time Alone

__3_ Love

____…...

theory counseling exist, giving a background fit views personality. My views: Life experiences play a vital role's life. These experiences negatively positively effect future. Our life choice, decide destiny.
In today's mental health services, almost anyone either with a university degree or by paying some fees upon following specific courses, can call himself a therapist or a counselor. That professional training is not required when practicing psychotherapy is either something to be worrying us a lot or something we should be thankful for. In the first case, people may be misleading themselves into thinking they can treat patients with mental health issues simply because they've been accredited by nonaccredited training programs. When information is poor and experience is less, we must consider that patients' situation can either not improve or even worsen. On the other hand, there may be a lot of individuals out there with prolific abilities into treating…...

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Reference List

Corey, G. (2012). Theory and practice of counseling and psychotherapy (9th ed.). Belmont, CA: Brooks/Cole.

May, R. (1950). The meaning of anxiety. New York, N.Y.: The Ronald Press Company.

Stewart, I. (1992). Eric Berne. London, California, New Delhi: SAGE Publications Inc.

The Japanese people do not seem to be too happy, and this makes sense after what they had been through, but it makes them seem inhuman or at least unemotional and distant, something that most Americans do not appreciate. The biggest differences between these cultures seem to be this distance and the Japanese habit of keeping to themselves and not communicating with other people. They keep their emotions inside, and that is not true for many white Americans.
This book is very lyrical and uses vivid descriptions of the natural world to tie the Japanese love of beauty and the natural world into the story. The author writes, "Slender and sinuous, olive green, mahogany, red, scarlet, and ash, they were weighted with broad gleaming leaves and velvet berries" (Guterson 106). The book is full of writing like this, which adds to the authenticity of the immigrant experience while painting a…...

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References

Guterson, David. Snow Falling on Cedars: A Novel. New York: Vintage, 1995.

But each has very individual needs. The practice of nursing encompasses the art of knowing when and how to motivate patients back to health.
This poem speaks to some of the core values embedded in nursing. Caring is central what to nurses do. Nurses must promote health, healing, and hope in response to the human condition. For many nursing is a way of giving back. They enjoy helping others; this provides a sense of purpose to their lives. The lines that begin, "The kiss has everything to do with sons who look at us and disappear, daughters who line their eyes with blue and borrow our too-loud laughter," reminds us that the recipient of nursing care is not limited to just the patient; family, friends, and others are all recipients of the care being given. Everyone that comes in contact with the process is affected in one way or another.…...

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References

Watson, J. (2003). The implications of caring theory. Watson caring science institute. Retrieved on January 26, 2012, from  http://www.watsoncaringscience.org/index.cfm/category/88/the-implications-of-caring-theory.cfm

For example, the popular sitcoms Good Times and Sanford and Son showed working class neighborhoods and the problems of violence, crime, and social oppression, and yet how humor always finds its way into these character's lives.
The 1970s also brought about a new late night live comedy show, called Saturday Night Live. This show had its first run from 1975 to 1980, and made political humor the centerpiece of Saturday night television. The original cast consisted of Dan Aykroyd, John Belushi, Chevy Chase, George Coe, Jane Curtin, Garrett Morris, Laraine Newman, Michael O'Donoghue and Gilda Radner, a diverse mix of young comedians from around New York City. Saturday Night Live is famous for its portrayals of U.S. Presidents, from Gerald Ford to Barack Obama, and has helped to shape Americans impressions of how these presidents have reacted to events in the world. (Boskin, 46) Saturday Night Live created a demanding…...

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Works Cited

Boskin, J. (1997). Rebellious laughter: People's humor in american culture. Syracuse: Syracuse University Press.

Dudden, a. (1989). American humor. (p. 184). New York: Oxford University Press.

It can be a little difficult to find accurate research on a specific incident like the 1993 Jack In the Box E. coli outbreak.  Escherichia coli, commonly known as E. coli is a type of bacterium that is often located in the lower intestine of warm-blooded animals.  E. coli lives in healthy people and animals, but some strains of E. coli can be very dangerous, causing significant gastrointestinal symptoms in impacted people.  If you are infected with a dangerous strain, the symptoms can include severe cramping, bloody diarrhea, and even vomiting.  People....

Thesis Statement:

Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol eloquently portrays the transformative power of redemption and compassion through Ebenezer Scrooge's profound journey of self-realization, illustrating that the true spirit of Christmas lies in embracing kindness, generosity, and the interconnectedness of humanity.

Introduction:

A Christmas Carol, a timeless classic by Charles Dickens, delves into the profound transformation of Ebenezer Scrooge, a miserly and isolated individual, during the haunting night of Christmas Eve. Through the visitations of three spirits, Scrooge embarks on a journey of self-discovery, witnessing the consequences of his actions and gaining a newfound understanding of the true meaning of Christmas. This essay delves....

1. The Timeless Appeal of "I Love Lucy"

2. "I Love Lucy": A Revolutionary Sitcom

3. The Enduring Legacy of Lucy and Ricky Ricardo

4. The Comedy Genius of Lucille Ball in "I Love Lucy"

5. Exploring the Cultural Impact of "I Love Lucy"

6. How "I Love Lucy" Changed Television Forever

7. A Tribute to the Hilarity of "I Love Lucy"

8. Lucy Ricardo: A Feminist Icon Ahead of Her Time

9. Remembering the Laughter: A Look Back at "I Love Lucy"

10. The Iconic Duo of Lucy and Ethel in "I Love Lucy"
11. Celebrating 70 Years of Laughs with "I Love Lucy"

12. From Black and White to....

Title Generator-Aligned Essay Topics

1. The Power of Language: The Influence of Titles in Shaping Narratives

Explore the ways in which titles can predetermine the interpretation of literary works.
Analyze how titles create expectations and bias the reader's perspective.
Discuss the ethical implications of using manipulative or deceptive titles.

2. Titles as Mirrors: Reflecting the Complexity of Literary Characters

Examine how titles can reveal the inner nature and motivations of characters.
Analyze the use of irony, paradox, and symbolism in titles to create complex character portraits.
Discuss the impact of character-based titles on the reader's understanding of the narrative.

3. The Art of....