Laughter is medicine

August 4, 2020   |   Evidence in Integrative Healthcare

A recent article from Journal of American Medical Association (JAMA) titled, Laughter Leaves Me Lighter, provides some evidence for the benefits of laughter in coping with stress such as COVID-19 as well as some strategies to make this work.  Following are the highlights:

• Humor help us cope and we can actively increase the humor in our lives to increase our well-being; in multiple studies across cultures, higher levels of humor correlate with more well-being, and less depression, anxiety, and negative emotions
• Friendships and social connection development are essential for our sanity and fundamental for combating the negative health effects of loneliness and social isolation: boost coping, well-being and social bonding
• Not all humor is helpful, a high level of tact, sensitivity, and consideration is called for when using humor; Primum non nocere applies, i.e., nothing that is insulting, sarcastic, self-defeating or self-deprecating, or demeaning to any individual or group
• Simple and effective ways to boost humor in your life:
  • Watch a funny movie or sitcom
  • Approximately 70% of humor occurs spontaneously in everyday life so with a focus on that:
    • Humor Awareness: To increased your humor awareness write down the 3 funniest things you experience during the day and your feelings during these experiences – tracking an recording humor helps nudge humor to a higher place on one’s radar:
      • More likely to add some fun to texts, emails, and daily conversations
      • Re-experience your humor in writing it down – ‘humor boomerang’
      • When it’s difficult to find the three funniest things this can motivate you to find more humor the next day
• Like a muscle, humor gets stronger the more it’s used:
  • Let the tears flow
  • Carry a double dose of it in your pocket
  • Share the playful sparks
  • Let the smiles spread