Reflex action of laughter makes great medicine

Laugh a little or laugh a lot. It can improve your health.

Normal Cousins, author of Anatomy of an Illness, attributes his recovery from the crippling and often fatal disease, Ankylosing Spondylitis, to his regimen of self prescribed laughter. During Cousins’ treatment which was self designed he reviewed replays of humorous materials such as “Candid Camera” or Laurel and Hardy films.

Several hospitals specializing in the treatment of chronic disease make laughter and humor a regular part of the patient’s treatment. Scientists are studying humor as a means of stress reduction. Medical science is studying the physiological and biochemical effects of laughter and are in agreement that laughter has a definite tension-reducing quality. This cathartic effect produces a sense of well-being in most individuals.

Charles Darwin, one of the first to look at laughter from a scientific viewpoint, note’s that it is innate and a reflex action.

Laughter can result from a variety of experiences that can vary from tickling a person’s feet to a clown dropping his pants at the circus. In 1928, a psychologist, Dr. Hayworth, in an article titled, “the Social Original and Function of Laughter” noted the following laughter producing conditions: triumph, surprise, tickling, a funny story, a sense of well-being associated with good health, and an attempt to conceal thoughts or cover shyness.

Variables which determine whether something is perceived as humorous are numerous and include:

• Age – children and adolescents respond differently from adults.
• Sex – men and women vary in reaction.
• Socio-economic background – a dry sense of humor may find puns quite obnoxious and may not appreciate slap-stick humor at all.
• Culture – also remember that Aggie jokes are not appreciated by all Texas A&M University alumni.

Why some people can tell jokes and remember jokes better than others is a factor not completely understood. Many accomplished speakers tell a joke at the beginning of their talk. Besides being an ice breaker, scientists feel that laughter produces certain chemicals in the bloodstream which have an alerting effect on the individual, thus making the audiences more responsive to the speaker.

Laughter is contagious as many have witnessed in observing behavior of children in groups. The intensity of laughter can vary from a snicker to a deep belly laugh.

Dr. William Fry, a Stanford University psychiatrist, notes that laughter may benefit a person’s heart, muscle and lungs. In the event of a belly laugh, an action changes in the body’s circumferences occurs as the abdominal muscles join in the contractions. This increases circulation and exercises the heart, Dr. Fry states.

Sigmund Freud wrote that laughter is associated with the gain of lust obtained when the tension due to inhibited tendencies is released in the morally innocent form of a joke. Conrad Lenz, on the other hand, felt that laughter served the purpose of diverting aggression in producing a feeling of social unity in groups.

Parents should encourage children to develop a sense of humor and serve as a model for this development. Looking on the lighter side of life can certainly alleviate stress and tension. Taking things too seriously all the time can create the opposite effect.

Try to make laughter and a good sense of humor a party of your repertoire for alleviating and coping with stress. Like many of the other helpful things in life, laughter is free.

Harold H. LeCrone, Jr., Ph.D. Copyright 1985