A little laughter goes a long way
Laughter may not be an antibiotic or a prescription, but research and students agree its power is essential in healing, coping and surviving the challenges of life.
Monica Hansen, registered nurse, said laughter may make a difference between the life and death of a patient because “it gives them the strength to keep fighting when everything else fails.”
There have been several occasions during her nursing clinical, she said, when she has seen laughter used as a healing tool. At the children’s hospital in Logan, she said some of the nurses on the cancer floor dance and do crazy things for the patients.
“It helps them to not be so sad,” she said, “because it makes them laugh and cheers them up.”
According to the Australian Nursing Journal, some nurses in Sydney will be trained in humor therapy as a part of a new study to improve the health of people with dementia.
In the article, a nursing professor in Sydney, Lyn Chenoweth, said this therapy works to manage behaviors that develop in these patients.
“This new approach may provide staff with novel and effective techniques for preventing and managing the behaviors that can occur in dementia, such as severe agitation, apathy, screaming, pacing and aggression,” Chenoweth said.
In the Consumer’s Medical Journal, W.F. Fry Jr., a behavioral scientist and clinical psychiatrist, said his research found that those who can replace anger, anxiety and hostility with laughter are more likely to live longer.
The report also said laughter and humor are beneficial in “restoring balance, stabilizing of blood pressure, stimulation of vital organs, improving circulation, facilitating of digestive processes and inducing relaxation.”
Hansen said, “Laughter is essential to relax the body and reduce stress, which can cause or worsen disease.”
Laughter also releases positive endorphins throughout the body, she said. According to the Consumer’s Medical Journal, “endorphins are chemically related to opiates, such as morphine and heroin, and act to reduce pain and generate feelings of well-being.”
The endorphins are “regarded as effective in contributing to a sense of euphoria,” the report states.
Laughter can alter a person’s thoughts, Hansen said, and also their entire mental world.
“I don’t think people really understand the power that thoughts have on their life and their destiny,” she said. “It’s the little things that can make all the difference, so by changing someone’s thoughts from negative to positive through laughter, we invite healing.”
Amidst life’s challenges, people who are able to find their sense of humor and keep laughter and happiness alive seem to be able to handle each trial that comes their way. Ali Griffith, a sophomore majoring in dental hygiene, said laughter has helped her to overcome many things throughout her life.
“It helps me to focus on the good things,” she said, “and makes me forget about the daily stresses of school and work.”
The positive outlook that comes with the remedy of laughter lightens hardships both small and lasting. Susan Morris, a case control social worker for Goodwill Industries, said she was abused as a child and also in her first marriage.
“I was depressed a lot at that time,” she said.
But later she said she found out that life always felt better with laughter.
Laughter brings more hope, peace, strength, self worth, unification, kindness and more healing, she said.
“I am not certain about statistics,” Morris said, “but I think many diseases can be healed with laughter as one tool.”
After being diagnosed with cancer and losing a pregnancy as a result, Morris said her children and laughter helped her to make it through. The cancer grew in her uterus and was continuing to spread, she said.
“I remember praying, serving and mostly just learning to be happy each day with my children,” she said. “When one of my children would look at me, I could not help but laugh.”
Before her chemotherapy treatments were about to start, she said, she was tested again and the results were negative. Although laughter was crucial in her healing, it cannot always combat all disease, she said, but it does help to cope.
Morris said to cope with depression or hard times, she has laughed at herself a lot.
“If I don’t use humor,” she said, “I just may turn negative on myself.”
Griffith, who grew up in San Antonio, Texas, said laughter has often helped her in times of embarrassment.
“I’m not use to all the snow and ice so whenever winter comes around, I manage to fall a lot,” she said. “It always makes me feel better when people can just laugh with me about it instead of feeling bad for me.”
–natalie.c@aggiemail.usu.edu