Ramon Mora-Ripoll, MD, Phd Alternative Therapies, Nov/Dec 2010, Vol. 16, No. 6
The Therapeutic Value of Laughter in Medicine
"One of the most significant methodological problems in laughter research is the failure to distinguish humor from laugthter.
Whereas humor is a stimulus and can occur without laughter, laughter is a response and can occur without humor."
For instance, laughter offers a respite from intense moments and energizes us spiritually. Laughter builds rapport, increases communication, and increases our sense of safety with another. As Harville Hendrix, Ph.D. has repeatedly said in his workshops, “A belly laugh a day, keeps the divorce lawyers away.” Shirley Ryan
Chicago - Museum of Science and Industry - YOU, The Experience Exhibit. Visit the Vitality section - Explore ideas of happiness. Laugh in the Laugh Garden.
Listen to advice on how to create a happy laughing habit in your family with Vicky and Jen "what really matters" and Christine Carter Ph.D. Executive Director of The Greater Good Science Center Half Full Kids podcast
The How of Happiness: A Scientific Approach to Getting the Life You Want by Sonja Lyubomirsky, Ph.D.
Psychologist Dacher Keltner, UC Berkley includes laughter in the jen ratio.
"My work as a psychologist—and my life as a father—has led me to believe that a simple fraction can tell us whether or not we’re truly happy. Put aside your justified suspicions for a moment and consider the following ratio--we’ll call it the jen ratio, in honor of the Confucian concept jen, which refers to a multilayered mixture of humanity, benevolence, and kindness not well captured by any word or phrase in the English language...
In the denominator of the jen ratio place recent actions in which someone has behaved in selfish, malevolent fashion, bringing the bad in others to completion -- the aggressive driver who flips you off as he roars in front of you, pealing away; the disdainful diner in a pricey restaurant who sneers at less well heeled passersby. Above this, in the numerator of the ratio, list recent benevolent acts of others, which brought the good in others to completion – a kind hand on your back in a crowded subway car; the woman who laughs melodiously as a stranger accidentally steps on her foot. The greater the value of the jen ratio, the more humane your world. The smaller the number becomes, the clearer it is that you are living in a Hobbesian, dog-eat-dog world, bloody in tooth and claw."
Dr. Michael Titze
Dear Dr. Titze has there been any research into how many times a day children laugh?In 1983 Josef Scheppach started a fine article dealing with the phenomenon of laughter with these words: "It's really not ridiculous: We Germans lose our humor! We laugh only 6 minutes a day. 40 years ago it was, anyhow, 18 minutes ? in a time which has been in every respect less funny!" This has been published in P.M. a (popular) scientific magazine.
In a book dealing with humor in psychotherapy (published in 1985) I mentioned this statement of Scheppach in a short sentence. In the following years a countless number of journalists cited my quotation of Scheppach's statement. Eventually, even the London Times published it.
Since 1996 1 have organized conducted several international congresses dealing with therapeutic humor in Switzerland and Germany. 1998, on the occasion of a panel in which participated, among others, William Fry and Patch Adams someone said that children laugh 400 times a day and adults only 17 times. Because I was moderating this panel, journalists implied that I was the origin of this statistical statement!
On the other hand, I am convinced that in our postmodern time the situation for everyday man is developing increasingly confusing (cf. Oliver James: Britain on the Couch). People seem to less appreciate a good humor. At least in Central Europe they enjoy more and more sarcastic forms (derisive forms of humor, schadenfreude). This,gain, has lead to a specific fear of laughter which I have called "gelotophobia" (cf. search engines).
Laughter is examined by Dr. P.M. Forni, Johns Hopkins University in The Other Side of Civility (scroll down to the article) In which the university's expert on all things civil (politely) argues that our good manners aren't just good for others ? they're good for us, too.
Laugh Out Loud Study Finds Laughter Improves Relationships article by Heather Sanders
Bazzini, D. G., Stack, E. P., Martinicin, P. D., & Davis, C. (in press). Remember when we...: The effects of reminiscing about laughter on relationship satisfaction. Motivation and Emotion.
With great joy Global Belly Laugh Day, January 24 officially joins the 2007 (50th edition) age 98 of Chase's Calendar of Events published by the McGraw-Hill Corporation.
The Effect of Mood on Work Performance Wharton & Ohio State University
"Most importantly, they discovered, the mood you bring with you to work has a stronger effect on the day's mood -- and on work performance -- than mood changes caused by events in the workplace."
Men's Health Magazine January 2007 pg 148 Stand out at work. Of course you already put in time, hit your deadlines, dress like a pro, and share your expertise. Right? Then there's just one more thing left to do: SMILE
On page 209 in Everything You Know to Feel Go(o)d Candace B. Pert, Ph.D. writes, "(Jaak) Pankesepp concluded that laughter is a psychological birthright of the human brain, the evolutionary antecedent of human joy..." "Play and laughter are vital to feeling good. ... For you not to be playing and laughing during some part of every day is unnatural and goes against fundamental biochemistry."
The UK Laughter Network answers the question what is laughter, why is laughter healthy?
Thought of Laughter Boosts Happy Hormones
by Judy Skatssoon
Laughter May Be the Best Medicine
This study examined the effect of laughter, as an expression of positive emotion, in terms of gene expression changes.
Read about the research on Discovery
Real Age® Live Life to the Youngest®
For personalized recommendations, take the RealAge test.
From Real Age® top 12 Grow Younger® strategies designed to make your RealAge younger
11. Laugh a Lot
Laughter reduces stress, strengthens the immune system, and can make your RealAge® as much as 8 years younger.
Time Magazine Special Issue 12/5/2005
The Year in Medicine From A to Z
Jeffrey Kluger
Sara Song, Alice Park, Coco Master
L is for Laughter
"Remember the last time you laughed so hard you could not stop? Good. Do it again....With laughter blood flow increased 22%, under stress (blood flow) decreased 35%.
At the end of 2005...new techniques being tried and new initiatives
being launched, our (health) tools are better than ever.
Now we must learn to put them to good use."
Healthy Aging : A Lifelong Guide to Your Physical and Spiritual Well-Being
by Dr. Andrew Weil, M.D.
"Your thoughts, emotions, and attitudes are key determinants on how you age....Laughter may indeed be the best medicine and like optimism it can be learned."
includes a discussion of laughter yoga page 219
For the first time, researchers have found that laughter causes the endothelium, the inner lining of blood vessels, to dilate. This increases blood flow which, of course, is good for overall cardiovascular health.The message is clear, and economical.
"I think it would be reasonable for everybody to loosen up, and spend about 15 to 20 minutes a day laughing," said lead researcher
Dr. Michael Miller, M.D. Director of Preventive Cardiology at the University of Maryland Medical Center.
Research Paper
YOU: The Owner's Manual : An Insider's Guide to the Body that Will Make You Healthier and Younger
by Michael F. Roizen, M.D., Mehmet Oz, M.D.
"Laughter and meditation are the two best stress relievers."
Laughing School Opens in Berlin, Germany
02:00 AM Jun. 24, 2005 PT A gaggle of Germans are laughing their troubles away, thanks to a new "laughter school" in Berlin that educates its students on the fine points of the guffaw. "We Germans aren't very easygoing and loose," therapist Susanne Maier told Der Spiegel magazine. "We've got to laugh before we make ourselves sick."
Malcolm Gladwell writes in Blink pages 206, "Ekman said, "What we discovered is that expression alone is sufficient to create marked changes in the autonomic nervous system."
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