Science of the "laughing cure"
This month's Scientific American Mind surveys the possible physiological and psychological benefits of LOLing. From SciAm Mind:
Norman Cousins, the storied journalist, author and editor, found no pain reliever better than clips of the Marx Brothers. For years, Cousins suffered from inflammatory arthritis, and he swore that 10 minutes of uproarious laughing at the hilarious team bought him two hours of pain-free sleep."How Humor Makes You Friendlier, Sexier"
In his book Anatomy of an Illness as Perceived by the Patient (W. W. Norton, 1979), Cousins described his self-prescribed laughing cure, which seemed to ameliorate his inflammation as well as his pain. He eventually was able to return to work, landing a job as an adjunct professor at the School of Medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles, where he investigated the effects of emotions on biological states and health.
The community of patients inspired by such miracle treatments believes not only that humor is psychologically beneficial but that it actually cures disease. In reality, only a smattering of scientific evidence exists to support the latter idea—but laughter and humor do seem to have significant effects on the psyche, even influencing our perception of pain. What is more, psychological well-being has an impact on overall wellness, including our risk of disease.
Laughter relaxes us and improves our mood, and hearing jokes may ease anxiety. Amusement’s ability to counteract physical agony is well documented, and as Cousins’s experience suggests, humor’s analgesic effect lasts after the smile has faded.
Cheerfulness, a trait that makes people respond more readily to laugh lines, is linked to emotional resilience—the ability to keep a level head in difficult circumstances—and to close relationships, studies show. Science also indicates that a sense of humor is sexy; women are attracted to men who have one. Thus, in various ways, life satisfaction may increase with the ability to laugh.
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This puts me in mind of laughter yoga. Good stuff, and very self-evident to me. Few things feel better than a good laugh.
For the past few weeks laughter has actually had the opposite effect on me.. just getting over a nasty virus, and laughing would set off coughing fits that would lead to migraines :P
...he has obviously never had a broken rib!
Otherwise agree wholeheartedly with the article.
This is why America's Funniest Home Videos will never die. Hell, maybe it should become part of the healthcare reform arsenal.
They lost me at the part where they said the Marx Brothers could induce "10 minutes of uproarious laughing".
Too true! Cat and I have a wonderfully sucessful marraige, maybe due largely to very similar senses of humor (that's humour, for you Brits).
We laugh together every single day. Of course there's a lot more to it than that, but I think that's a common factor in all the close, loving relationships I know of.
Sexy? Tell it to the class clown; he never seems to get laid.
#6: It's only attractive if you get them to laugh with you...
"Dad always said laughter was the best medicine. I guess that's why several of us died of tuberculosis."-Army Man
If laughter is so good for your mental health then why does it seem like every mad scientist out there has a crazed cackle of some kind? And I'm not even going to get started on the Joker.
@#10 Brainspore:
Just imagine how crazy they'd be if they WEREN'T laughing.
I nominate for best laugh the wedding scene from "The Little Murderers" .
I have chronic pain -- in my twenties, my aggressive (female) sexuality was helpful. These days, distraction and alcohol are better tools, unfortunately. Comedy distracts less than gaming, but any distraction is welcome.
Redirection of the mind is a good treatment regardless I think.
number 5
The Marx Brothers were (are) hilarious! The early Paramount comedies were great. I remember sitting in a theatre full of people watching Monkey Business and Duck Soup, and the audience was howling. Perhaps you saw The Big Store or one of the less inspired productions from later in their career.
True story:
I met my love of eleven years now as one of my students in my martial arts class. She was prone to headaches, and once a month or so, she'd bow out of class, and go perch on a windowsill. She'd always ask first, and of course I always said that was fine. She was a good student, and these kind of things are not show-stoppers by any means.
So this happened for perhaps the second or third time. At a point where I had everyone doing what they needed to do and I could take a few moments, I walked over to her and asked "How's your head?"
She looked up at me through eyes a little squinty with pain, and reported: "I've never had any complaints." I laughed, she laughed, perhaps the pain was lessened to some degree. I'll have to ask her when she comes home tonight.
We're inseparable now. Turned out that not only was she funny, but extremely intelligent, literate, the mother of three very smart, talented kids, and possessed of many interests in common with me.
The spark, though, was humor born of pain. And a very effective spark it was.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nE3IH5ImEn0&feature=PlayList&p=8760742423E89A5B&index=42
#15 In the Marx Brothers film "Night at the Opera", Groucho Marx is boarding an ocean liner with a woman. He is carrying her baggage. She asks him "Do you have everything?" He replies "I haven't had any complaints yet." The censors wanted to cut that line from the film (and in some markets it WAS censored) but Groucho and the writers made a fuss, so we can see it to this day.