Laughter

      They say that no matter what the situation may be that or regardless of what we are going through that laugher’s the best medicine.  What does that really mean? 

     According to https://www.psychiatrictimes.com/view/laughter-best-medicine consider the following: “The field of medicine has long recognized the importance of humor. In the 1300s, Henri de Mondeville, a professor of surgery, propagated post-operative therapy with humor.⁵ Norman Cousins, a journalist and a professor, also initiated this trend when he developed his own “treatment,” based on mood elevation through laughter.  According to Cousins, ten minutes of laughter resulted in two hours of pain free sleep.”

 

     That article went on to include: “Freud postulated that humor works by condensation and displacement and believed that cultivating a sense of humor could lift repression.¹² When used appropriately, humor can have a place in therapy for generalized anxiety disorder, depression, and social anxiety. It can be a part of interpersonal therapy and CBT.⁴ Humor in CBT can help patients reframe their maladaptive thoughts, elevate mood, and overcome perceived obstacles.”

 

    Have you ever wondered WHY we laugh?  There have been found so many reasons but of interest to me was a point that I had never heard highlighted in the article https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/why-do-we-laugh/ as follows: “Humans start laughing as early as 3 months into life, even before we can speak. This is true even for babies who are deaf or blind. Peekaboo, it turns out, is particularly a global crowd-pleaser. And we know this because studying baby laughter is an actual job, too.”

 

     https://www.forbes.com/sites/daviddisalvo/2017/06/05/six-science-based-reasons-why-laughter-is-the-best-medicine/?sh=400b707a7f04 provides a listing of six reasons why laughter is the best medicine.  They are:

1.       Laughter is a potent endorphin releaser. One of the most recent studies on laughter shows that laughing with others releases endorphins in the brain—our homegrown feel-good chemicals—via opioid receptors. The more opioid receptors a given person has in their brain, the more powerful the effect. Highly addictive opioid drugs, like heroin, also bind to those receptors, suggesting that laughter induces euphoria not unlike a narcotic (minus the obvious drawbacks).

      2.       Laughter contagiously forms social bonds. The endorphin effect described above also               explains why social laughter is so contagious. Spreading endorphin release through groups             promotes a sense of togetherness and safety. Each brain in a social unit is a transmitter of               those feelings, which triggers the feel-goods in other brains via laughter. It’s like a game of          endorphin dominoes. That’s why when someone starts laughing, others will laugh even if              they’re not sure what everyone is laughing about.

     3.      Laughter fosters brain connectivity. Not all laughter is the same, and it turns out that                 decoding a laugh is more challenging than it seems. One study found differences in how we           perceive, for example, joyous laughter versus taunting laughter versus tickling laughter, each         of which activates connections between different brain regions. What this all amounts to is             that laughter fosters rigorous brain-region connectivity that kicks in when we hear a laugh, as      our brains work to decipher what sort of communication is coming through.

      4.      Laughter is central to relationships. A study showed that women laughed about 126%                more than their male counterparts, while men seem to instigate laughter the most—and                  there’s an interesting application of those results to how relationships form and are                        maintained. Women typically rate a sense of humor as a top-three trait for a potential mate.            Men tend to rate women who laugh a lot (i.e. laugh at their jokes) higher than those who               don't.  It's no surprise, then, that couples who laugh together report having higher-quality               relationships. Laughter is a nonnegotiable for all involved.

5.      Laughter has an effect similar to antidepressants. Laughing activates the release of the neurotransmitter serotonin, the same brain chemical affected by the most common types of antidepressants, SSRIs. It’s not clear from the research how long this effect sticks around, but the burst of brain activity laughing triggers is undoubtedly potent, at least for short periods of time.

      6.      Laughter protects your heart. Research has shown that laughter has an anti-inflammatory           effect that protects blood vessels and heart muscles from the damaging effects of                            cardiovascular disease. How this happens isn't entirely understood, but it seems related to              lessening the body’s stress response, which is directly linked to increased inflammation.                Regular, hearty laughter should probably be part of every heart disease prevention program.

     All I know is that there have been some comedians who have made me have the biggest laughs simply by walking out onto the stage.  One from the past was Tim Conway, most notably known from his appearances on the Carol Burnett Show.  Whenever he was in a skit, he would walk out and before doing anything I would be almost doubled over in laughter simply by thinking about what he was going to do!

     I guess that is simply part of nature!  Remember: We’re only human!

QUOTE TO CONSIDER

THOUGHTFUL GEM

"It is said that being able to laugh at yourself is good medicine.

Besides, think of all the people you are leaving alone 

when you do that!"