Laughter is the Best Medicine

I remember growing up having my share of childhood illnesses. What made me feel better was watching the reruns of the 1950 sitcoms. Remember the I Love Lucy scene where Lucy and Ethyl are working in a candy factory and the conveyor belt with the chocolate moves too fast for them to wrap and so they start stuffing their mouths with chocolates. I used to laugh myself silly watching it. Or The Honeymooners episodes where Ralph Kramden is raising his arm and whisking Alice to the moon (Bam-Zoom). All you have to do is recall these scenes and a smile comes to your face.  I am still laughing at them years later. Laughter certainly was the best medicine and after a few belly laughs I was feeling much better.

Laughing is Contagious

Someone once said (author unknown) that a laugh is a loud smile. I suppose that is true. Have you ever sat next to someone and they are laughing at something that you didn’t think was particularly funny, but now you are laughing just as hard?  I think we all have experienced this. Laughter is contagious. It is more contagious than a yawn or the common cold. 

Spontaneous Laughing

Or how about this? Have you ever thought of something so funny at the most inappropriate time and it just hits you like a ton of bricks and you can’t stop laughing? This of course usually happens when I am driving alone or in the grocery store. It gets so bad I can’t contain myself. During those times, I usually slap a pair of ear pods in my ear and pretend I’m on the phone so others around me won’t think I’m crackers.

What Makes Something Funny?

According to the website, How Stuff Works, laughter may have come about in the human species as a signal of shared relief when danger passed and denoted trust in one’s companion.  Funny, how things evolve.  Nowadays we laugh at what’s funny, but what makes something funny? That is a question that has been pondered for centuries. One way to answer it is that it’s when logic is replaced by that which normally doesn’t go together, as in this example by Phyllis Diller, “My cooking is so bad that the flies chipped in to mend the screen door”. The problem is that if there were a recipe for what makes something funny, it would be without spontaneity and that spark that makes it funny.

The Benign Violation Theory of Laughter

Psychologists have a theory of the psychology of humor called The Benign Violation Theory and it states that two conditions need to be satisfied in order to claim something as funny: 1) It violates the way we think the world should work and 2) It does this in a way that is not threatening. Its the spontaneity, the surprise factor – something happening that is against what you thought would be happening that makes it funny.

The Psychological and Physiological Benefits of Laughter

Laughter has numerous psychological and physiological benefits. It can reduce stress, relieve pain, increase immunity, promote relaxation, improve sleep, and aid in blood pressure regulation to just name a few.  Laughter makes us feel happy and it lifts our spirits.  It can actually cure what ails us.  Laughter therapy, which has sprung up in many medical centers across the country, is now a component in several treatment approaches in people with chronic illnesses, including cancer. Laughter yoga clubs are now becoming popular as well. In fact, this is how Dr. Norman Cousins, editor of the Saturday Review, reversed his diagnosis of terminal ankylosing spondylitis, a degenerative disease causing the breakdown of collagen. Dr. Cousins was given only a few months to live and was in constant pain. He wouldn’t accept this diagnosis and checked himself into a hotel. He flooded himself with a large dose of very funny movies. Within six-months he was pain free and able to return back to work.

Laughter is the Best Medicine

During these tough and stressful times, laughter needs to be an important remedy to what ails us. It feels really good to laugh and it can make a huge difference in your emotional, physical, and spiritual well-being. The great thing about laughter is that the body cannot tell the difference between fake laughter and real laughter.  The benefits are the same. Bring laughter into your life, Watch a funny movie, look at funny photographs, go to a comedy show, or just laugh at yourself.  In fact, laugh yourself silly. Laughter is the best medicine.

(Featured top image credit: Photo by Stocksnap is available under the Creative Commons CCO 1.0 license on Pixabay,com.)

Source: Brain, Marshall. “How Laughter Works” 01 April 2000. HowStuffWorks.com. <http://science.howstuffworks.com/environmental/life/human-biology/laughter.htm> 28 February 2012