ENG 112

CPCC
Rozzie Standing
05/12/14

How Humor Heals
Like any exercise, laughing relaxes you, and works against chronic stress that most
individuals wear on their shoulders. Mehmet C. Oz, M.D., a heart surgeon at New York
Presbyterian Hospital explains why this is so in a 2005 Readers Digest article; When you
push any engine including your body, to its maximum, every once in awhile it slips a gear. The
ways the body manifests are: irregular heartbeats, high blood pressure and increased sensitivity
to pain. When people use humor, the autonomic nervous system tones it down a bit to take it off
high gear, and allows the heart to relax. Humor has the ability to heal us physiologically and
mentally giving us the aptitude to change our outlook to a positive perspective and heres why.
Its said that today, one in ten Americans use antidepressants to help rid their depression.
Medication such as Celexa, Prozac and Cymbalta are created to increase serotonin levels as well
as dopamine levels among a few others while having potential side effects ranging from fatigue
to seizures. While certain individuals situations do require medication, not all of them do. The
cause of depression can be of many factors, such as life events, genes, brain chemistry or social
environment/home life. Many individuals with a social issue relating to depression dont need to
run to pills to make themselves happy. Happiness comes from within and humor plays a vital
role. Im not saying, medication is unnecessary, I in fact have family members that take anti
depressants. I just believe that in some circumstances individuals run to doctors and medical
professionals to prescribe them a pill that will not have the same beneficial factors humor can
offer. People who tend to think more negatively put themselves at a more of a risk for developing
depression than those who dont.
In 2006, a research led by Lee Berk and Stanley A. Tan at Loma Linda University found
that two hormones, one, and endorphin that alleviates depression and another HGH, which helps
with immunity increased by 27% and 87% when volunteers were sat down to watch a video that
was found to be humorous. After conducting this experiment Lee Berk stated, Our findings lead
us to believe that by seeking out positive experiences that make us laugh we can do a lot with our
physiology to stay well. A few years after this study was completed, Lee Berk and Stanley A.
Tan constructed a similar experiment, this time to determine what affect laughter had on three
stress hormones known as, Cortisol (termed the stress hormone), epinephrine (also known as
adrenaline) and dopac, a dopamine catabolite (brain chemical which helps produce epinephrine).
In this study, sixteen healthy men were evaluated before and after watching a humorous video.
Results showed cortisol was decreased by 39%, epinephrine 70% and dopac by 38%.
Not only does humor release stress levels and chemicals but also increases the
satisfactory of life. Humor helps communication, encourages optimism and helps in individuals
to deal with self conflict. While researching I found a few lines written by Dan Baker, that can be
found in his book What Happy People Know that I thought would better help the
understanding of this concept. Baker writes, Appreciation is the first and most fundamental
happiness tool. Research now shows it is physiologically impossible to be in a state of
appreciation and a state of fear at the same time. Thus, appreciation is the antidote to fear. So if
humor can change a perspective on a painful memory of the past or a gnawing issue of the
present into opportunities to laugh at the inherent craziness of life at times, then a person can
better facilitate his own healing. Perspective is everything, as I stated before, those who tend to
be more negatively minded are more likely to put themselves at risk for depression versus those
who dont. Humor cultivates optimism, which steers one away from the dangers of depression
and anxiety. Humor is comforting and can combat fear.
Many of us live with fear, as a matter of fact we all do. Individuals are constantly battling
the chatterbox in the back of our minds that tell us were not good enough, were not prepared
enough and well never be capable of achieving what weve always aspired to do. By using
humor as a tool to rid these thoughts we have daily, individuals can change their perspectives of
life, bettering their day to day interactions. Although it is hard to decipher exactly how many
negative thoughts an individual has a day estimations range from 40,000-45,000 negative
thoughts a day! That is a lot of negative thinking.. At the intrapersonal level, when we laugh at
ourselves, humor helps us recognize that there is an element of absurdity in our lives. Were able
to confront the facts that negative consequences occur when were being overly serious about
ourselves and our situations. Humor helps us deal with internal dialogue we carry around and
think about throughout our day that causes us more problems than we already have.
One may argue laughter isnt always healthy. Laughter can often be used to put others
down, and make one feel worse. Others may bring up the issue that certain people cant control
their laughter and are caught laughing at times where its deemed inappropriate. Paul McGhee
discusses situations where humor alienates people and creates barriers amongst individuals.
Humor that disrupts and weakens relationships versus strengthens them and refers to it as put-
down humor. A type of humor that feels like a laughing at rather an a laughing with. It is
human nature to make jokes and make fun of other groups and individuals but this type of humor
has a line, and the line can be crossed very easily if one doesnt know his crowd or culture he is
in. For example in a job setting is where one may find himself being more aware of humorous
joke he/she may tell. Not knowing your audience makes joke-telling risky. Those who laugh at
your joke may be fake laughing while underneath it all theyre actually offended.
Overall, Im not saying humor is the answer to everything. Humor cannot cure all
illnesses, and cannot make every situation better but it can help. Humor Rooms, are made to
encourage people to use humor in their recovery from any kind of sickness, and can now be
found in certain hospitals. Meanwhile, science backs these efforts. In a study published in the
Journal of Holistic Nursing, humor very definitely seems to diminish pain. In an article written
by Melinda Smith, and Jeanne Segal, were reminded, Laughter is your birthright, a natural part
of life that is innate and inborn. Infants begin smiling during the first weeks of life and laugh out
loud within months of being born. Even if you did not grow up in a household where laughter
was a common sound, you can learn to laugh at any stage of life.
Humor is the key to our happiness, humor fills us with bliss and provides an outlet for our
sufferance and pain to depart. We dont appreciate how valuable humor is to our well being.
Individuals need to become more concerned with the advantages humor offer us, and the ability
for it to change our lives. To be productive in life changes we must first change our perspective,
and what an easier way to do it than through the humor were all capable of.






Works Cited
Feature, Katherine KamWebMD. "Antidepressants: Effectiveness, Trials, Realistic
Expectations." WebMD. WebMD, n.d. Web. 10 May 2014.

"Laughter Is the Best Medicine." : The Health Benefits of Humor. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 May 2014.

New Study Finds Anticipating A Laugh Reduces Stress Hormones." American Physiological
Society New Study Finds Anticipating A Laugh Reduces Stress Hormones. N.p., n.d.
Web. 10 May 2014.

"The Negative Side of Humor: Put-Down Jokes." The Negative Side of Humor: Put-Down Jokes.
N.p., n.d. Web. 10 May 2014.

"9 Ways That Humor Heals - World of Psychology." Psych Central.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 May
2014.