I’m suprised you didnt mention the positive physical results of laughter such as exercising the diaphram muscles and increasing airflow. Aside from that, I did a speech about Cousins and his recovery once. All the comments about holistic medicine aside, the mind is a very powerful tool and I’ve seen too many other cases that have proved to me that the mind has healing properties over the body.
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Is laughter good medicine? (11-Dec-1998)
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A few months ago I discovered a *negative*, albeit temporary, result - I laughed so hard, my diaphram ached and I had to stretch out on the floor to get enough air. Literally ROTFL. [aside]Details of trigger available upon request.[/aside]I first read this column when it was first published, but on rereading it just now I noticed an ambiguity.
“…suggesting that you can cure yourself through positive thoughts, as Cousins came close to doing…”
I’m assuming Cecil means that Cousins came close to suggesting that you can cure yourself through positive thoughts, but could he mean instead that Cousins came close to curing himself?
Whatever – this ambiguity is trivial. I’m sure we all agree, as dougrun points out, that laughing is beneficial even if as nothing more than a diaphragm exercise. But I also agree that mental attitude goes a long way toward healing.
Amen to that. Read Dr. Bernie Siegel (or is it Siegal)! His books like Myth, Medicine and Miracles describe how laughter and a positive attitude have greatly increased the survival and remission rate of his cancer patients. He has a group of cancer survivors who meet regularly and tell jokes and stories to get each other laughing. An intern passing the door of the room where these people were in hysterics laughing asked Siegel, “Who are those people?” Siegel replied,“My cancer patients.” What are they doing?"asked the intern. “Dying laughing,” replied Siegel!
But the truth was that most of them survived a long time, and those who did die lived much better quality lives in the meantime.
So, I can’t find a direct reference to the most recent research, but there are tons of references online to laughter releasing endorphins, and also activating immune response. Nobody (or nobody reputable) is saying that the laughing per-se is the issue - it is more that a really good laugh is a good short workout. It has the same pattern of heart rate and respiration changes, and a lot of other features. (Hence why a number of the pages I scanned noted that even faking a good laugh works just as well as a REAL good laugh…)
Basically, exercise is good medicine.
Here’s one of the more balanced articles I saw on the topic:
Arthritis Society Laughter Therapy page
(Cecil, how did you miss the endorphin-release issue?)