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Benefits of laughter research
Benefits of laughter research
Essays about the positive effects of laughter on emotional and physical health
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Humor is used in treating mental health issues along with physical health issues. Psychologists believe that humor can create positive effects on the brain. When we laugh we use muscles in our bodies that relax us, which can help to create a positive effect on the brain. Psychologists have done studies to show different kinds of effects that humor has on people with mental illnesses and physical problems. Psychologist have gathered groups of people and given a treatment to one and a non-treatment to the other, to see if there are different kinds of effects that humor has. People with a good sense of humor, tend to have less health problems, they also tend to be less stressed, anxious and depressed. Humor can benefit people, with laughter …show more content…
Such as if you are laughing from a TV show it causes you to restrict your muscles and to create positive emotions in the brain. Laughter is healthy, it’s a way to create separation between one’s self and our problems. In an article called, “Health Care Savvy: Heart Benefits of Hearty Laugh,” by Health.org, explains that there are several benefits of laughter such as: Increase blood flow, lower blood sugar, regulate the immune system, burn calories and ease pain. The increase in blood flow, after watching something comical the arteries to the heart expanded causing an increase in blood flow to the body, this action can also lower the blood pressure. This can seriously help people with diabetes; it can help them maintain a better blood sugar control. In regulating the immune system, “a good laugh might also stimulate production of the disease-fighting T cells and natural killer cells” (Gorman 35). Also, laughter can cause us to burn calories, in the way our muscles are used while laughing, and it can ease the pain by relaxing our muscles. Humor and laughter are said to benefits to our immunity, pain tolerance, blood pressure, longevity, and illness symptoms. Laugher relaxes and exercises your muscles and causes you to go into a state of relaxation. Laughter can also, “increase the production of pain-killing endorphins, decreases the production of stress-related hormones, and enhances immunity”
Although modern science has allowed us to develop many complex medicines, laughter is still the strongest one available in the real world and in the book. Laughter proves to be a strong medicine in more ways than one and is completely free, allowing anyone to use it at anytime. It allows us to connect socially with people, it can be used as a way of overthrowing power, and it is good for your health. As Randle McMurphy showed in the novel, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, laughter can lighten the mood in the darkest situations.
Laughing is resorted to in times where we need to laugh. It’s an escape from reality, its comfort, its fear. Laughing subdues any emotion that is too high strung in our system. It lets it vapor out in a melancholy form that helps us cope with problems that no one else can really understand and help us with. In One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest it allowed emotional tension escape from the patients and made nurse Ratched lose her ward.
Humour allows other's to understand a difficult situation without feeling the need to feel uncomfortable about it.
Humor helps a person to dissolve stressful emotions, it’s a creative way to mentally solve a problem without being depress about the circumstances. Humor encourages a person to realize that there is a problem and something needs to be done about the situation, than a person is not in serious or stressful mode. Sharing your problems with other people helps to ease the pain and with humor added into the problem, helps a person to talk about their feelings and the person who is listening can relax too, because there is somewhat of sense of humor in the problem that does not put the listener in a discomfort position. With this humor mechanism a person can actually realize they have problem and that they have to solve it, instead being depress about the
This book is about so many things, it is hard to stay on one topic for any length of time. In order to focus on the laugh and laughing as a healing agent, I would like to look towards other influential writers and thinkers to tie together laughing and healing. First, let’s see what laughter is according to Meriam Webster: laughter- n. a cause of merriment. Using this simple definition, we can assume that laughter can come from any form of merriment or emotion like triumph, contempt, relief, and almost any other emotion there is. It is easy to picture in your head different underlying emotions in laughter; the sinister laughs of witches and ghosts, the insincere, fake laughs you hear after pointless, humorless attempts at jokes on the six o’clock news, to the silent laughs of mimes and clowns that fill the people around them with a happy feeling. These are all examples of what laughter is and how it is used. But why do we do it? What in nature created the laugh and made it so successful?
Psychologists, sociologists and anthropologists study humor because it is a fundamental culture value, but they still can’t determine why certain things make some people laugh and others not. There are “humor quotient” tests that are designed to measure an individual’s sense of humor, but these tests are questionable. These tests aren’t accurate because almost all humor depends on cultural background knowledge and language skills. Not every person in the whole world, or even in one country share the same background knowledge and skills, therefore they cannot have the same type of humor. “The fact remains that individuals vary in their appreciation of humor” (Rappoport 9). Since humor varies from individual to individual, humor lies in the individual. How successful or funny a joke is depends on how the person receives the joke, humor cannot be measured by a statistical
When there is humor involved people seem to enjoy things way better, the reason for this is that people will
The therapeutic use of humor can be loosely defined as any activities that use the positive emotional responses associated with humor, smiling and laughter to specifically benefit one or more clients’ social, emotional, physical, cognitive or wellness domains. Using humor, therapeutically, involves establishing specific desired outcomes for a client which are facilitated by the use of humor and related techniques. Dattilo & McKenney, (2011) define the therapeutic use of humor when “specialists and others use humor in practice, they play for it to lead to specific therapeutic outcomes”. They emphasize the use of evidence based practice and a goal oriented approach as essential in using humor for therapeutic purposes. Similar to other techniques used, Therapeutic Recreation is using humor to achieve client-established goals requires a systematic approach that harnesses the medicinal benefits of the involved and evoked behaviors.
The Mongols built an empire that stretched from the Pacific Ocean to the Baltic Sea. One of the richest parts of that empire was the land of the Rus - but how did the Mongols conquer it so quickly? This lesson examines how, as well as how the Mongols ruled their new territory.
The spectrum of therapeutic techniques available within the health care continuum is very complex and varied. From traditional medicine, to holistic remedies, and anything in between, nurses have a rather large arsenal at their disposal when it comes to treating the patients that are under their care. Humor as an alternative therapy has long been understood as a proven means to aid in the recovery process. “With so much power to heal and renew, the ability to laugh easily and frequently is a tremendous resource for surmounting problems, enhancing your relationships, and supporting both physical and emotional health” (Smith & Segal, 2015). The purpose of this paper is to discuss situations in which humor would be a viable alternative therapy
Yoshino S., Fujimori J., Kohda M.. Effects of mirthful laughter on neuroendocrine and immune systems in patients with rheumatoid arthritis [letter]. J Rheumatol 23: 793-4 (1996).
Therefore, laughter therapy can be a series of cognitive-behavioural therapies that helps to make physical, psychological, and social relationships healthy and ultimately improves the quality of life (Ko and Youn 2011). It has taken a very long time for laughter to become a recognized medical therapy. Dr. William Fry of Stanford University School of Medicine developed a theory of laughter therapy, and found that humour and laughter produced natural painkillers in pituitary, such as endorphins, improved blood circulation, and decreased stress (Fry and Salameh
body's level of cortisol, which aids the immune system. Laughing increases oxygen intake, stimulates heart and lungs, improves overall breathing abilities, and increases the body’s energy level. Laughing exercises several muscles in the body including: the abdomen, back, shoulders, and 15 facial muscles. So when coming home from a stressful day at the office, exercise might not be a top priority. Keep in mind that ...
If there is one way to bring a smile to someone’s face, it is laughter. Funny jokes, comical stunts, sarcasm- Every person is different when it comes to what makes them laugh. Some find dry humor comical. Others think sarcasm or joke-filled ranting are the best. ‘Comedy’ is such a broad term, broad enough to allow everyone to find something they find comical. In fact, ‘comedy’ includes a specific type of drama, one where the protagonist is joyful and happy endings are expected. Comedy is like a drug; it allows you to escape reality. When we say the word ‘comedy’ in the present, we are generally referring to a type of performance which provides humor. However, in its broadest sense, comedy has only one purpose: comedy makes people smile and
Those who use humor to its best advantage teach others by example. Instead of getting angry when something goes wrong, we should try to look for the humor in the situation. It eases tensions and keeps things in perspective. Humor can energize us when a task has become tedious. Humor can make even the worst of situations tolerable.