Humor therapy laughter as natural health, scientific proof definition/purpose

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Humor therapy Definition

In considering humor as a useful complementary therapy, scientists look at the possible release of endorphins that occurs when we laugh. Patients, doctors and health-care professionals are all finding that laughter may indeed be the best medicine. They see humor as a distraction from stress and pain.
The value of humor has been confirmed to the point that many hospitals and ambulatory care centers now have incorporated special rooms where materials - and sometimes people - are there to help make people laugh. Materials include movies, audio and videotapes, books, games, and puzzles for patients of every age. Movies and TV shows by popular comedians from Laurel and Hardy to Bob Hope and Bob Newhart, humorous songs, the joke of the day on the Internet, the one paragraph jokes and funny stories from the Readers' Digest, all have value in helping patients who would otherwise have little to laugh about.
A hospital in North Carolina created a "laughmobile" that visits bedridden patients. Many hospitals throughout the nation now use volunteer groups who visit patients with carts full of humor devices, including slapstick items such as water pistols and rubber chickens. They visit patients who are fighting cancer and other serious illnesses, providing an oasis of laughter during an otherwise difficult time.

Humor therapy Purpose

Humor as therapy is its deliberate use to provide symptom relief. This happens because humor reduces the natural stresses of illness and distracts the patient from pain. It is useful for treating people with physical and emotional problems. With all of the various humor techniques, the goal is similar and simple: make patients laugh and help them put aside their fears, their concerns about health, and their discomforts. Finding humor in a situation and laughing freely with others can be a powerful antidote to stress. It is also a very good coping mechanism when you are suffering from deadly diseases such as cancer. Many people find that maintaining a sense of humor at such occasions are useful for good quality of life. Our sense of humor gives us the ability to find delight, experience joy, and to release tension. This can be an effective self-care tool. Scientific evidence on the effectiveness of humor as a therapy is now overwhelming. For many years medical professionals have recognized that those patients who maintained a positive mental attitude and shared laughter responded better to treatment. Physiological responses to laughter include increased respiration, circulation, hormonal and digestive enzyme secretion, and a leveling of the blood pressure. Many report a general sense of euphoria after vigorous laughter. But until the New England Journal of Medicine in 1979 published the Norman Cousins case study, few considered the therapeutic uses of humor. Humor biologically reversed Cousins' ankylosing spondylitis, a painful disease causing the disintegration of the spinal connective tissue.
Laughing is found to lower blood pressure, reduce stress hormones, increase muscle flexion, and boost immune function by raising levels of infection-fighting T-cells, disease-fighting proteins called Gamma-interferon and B-cells, which produce disease-destroying antibodies. Laughter also triggers the release of endorphins, the body's natural painkillers, and produces a general sense of well-being.
"If you took what we now know about the capability of laughter to manipulate the immune system, and bottled it, it would need FDA approval," said Dr. Lee Berk

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