Tickle Your Funny Bone
September, 2002 (Special Edition)
By
Dr. Lorraine Cassista

     When was the last time you had a really good laugh? Is laughter a regular part of your routine? Do you do it often or are you one of those serious types who thinks life is no laughing matter? Well not all serious types are so serious they can’t take a joke or laugh hysterically from time to time. I should know! Most of my life people have thought of me as being serious. Anyone who knows me well knows I love to laugh! Just knowing I’m married to my husband would tell you that! Patients have frequently asked me if I’ve heard all of his jokes. Yes, I have and his sense of humor has always charmed and intrigued me!

     Even though my husband keeps me laughing, I found a new love about 4 years ago. I decided I wanted to develop my creativity using humor to expand my thinking style so I joined an Improv Comedy Group and have been belly laughing at practice every week since. We don’t tell jokes; we take ordinary situations (ok, sometimes not so ordinary) and try to make them funny, all right there on the spot. It’s no easy task, requires a lot of courage, definitely moves us out of our comfort zone and pushes us out of the box, especially in front of an audience during a show.

     Sometimes life can be stressful, discouraging, or downright painful! Those are the times we can easily forget to see the lighter side of life. Did you know that laughter is actually good for you? It can brighten mood, release tension, ease social constraints by breaking the ice, reduce fears and anxieties, diffuse anger, may reduce the risk of heart problems and brings people together in a common state of well being. Vigorous laughter increases the heart rate and circulation, increases oxygen in the bloodstream, reduces pain threshold and may enhance immunity. According to the Mind/Body Health Letter, researchers at Loma Linda University found that humor-treated heart patients had less arrythmias (irregular heart beats), lower blood pressure, and lower levels of stress hormones. They required lower doses of medication and only 20% had a recurrent heart attack compared to 50% in the customary care group.

     Besides laughing at jokes or funny movies, people who are able to laugh at themselves have a stronger sense of self-worth and higher self-esteem than people who take themselves too seriously. Being able to laugh at yourself helps you to accept your shortcomings and allows you to not expect to be perfect. It gives you a different perspective from which to see yourself and your situation. Even some of our worst days can have humor in it if we look hard enough and make a stressful situation easier to bear. Research has shown even changing your facial muscles from frowning to smiling can set off different physiological changes, including neurohormone levels, triggering thoughts that affect moods of sadness, happiness, and anger.

     Of course, some people can use humor to escape their problems rather than deal with them. This is not healthy use of humor. Neither is it healthy to use sarcasm or ridicule which usually has some sort of anger or hostility associated with it. It’s also important to know when to not use humor. There are times when it’s just not appropriate, like when someone has died or someone is severely depressed. It’s also not a good idea to make someone laugh when they have a rib fracture, are in acute respiratory distress or immediately following surgery.

     So try something different! Develop a new character and try it out on your kids. They’ll either love it or be mortified until they have kids of their own. At least you’ll have tickled your funny bone!