19 Nov Is Laughter Really the best medicine?
Did you have a comedy show or comedian who you loved to watch as a kid and maybe still do watch? For me, it was Lucille Ball. Her sense of comedic timing, facial expressions, and antics that she would get into in I Love Lucy would bring me so much joy especially in difficult times. Don’t we all love the universal way laughing makes us feel? That great big belly laugh that feels so good as though it can wash away any pain we are feeling in that moment? Does it actually do more than just make us feel good?
I remember reading about Norman Cousins when I was in college and was fascinated. Here was a man who cured himself of a life-threatening disease called Degenerative Collagen Illness, with a regimen of laughing at old Marx Brothers shows, among other therapies. He wrote about this in his book “Anatomy of an Illness” in 1979. “I made the joyous discovery that 10 minutes of genuine belly laughter had an anesthetic effect and would give me at least two hours of pain-free sleep,” he wrote. This was one of the first books that spoke about a patient taking charge of his own health and the healing effects of laughter.
So what does laughing actually do in the body? There are many short and long-term effects of laughter. Effects such as: reducing stress by lowering cortisol levels, relieving pain as Norman Cousins spoke about with the anesthetic effect, improving your mood by lessening depression and anxiety, and relaxing your body.
Being able to laugh, even at ourselves or maybe especially at ourselves helps us in so many ways! Maybe we can all find more ways to bring more laughter into our lives.