“Laughter is health,” doctors and doctors like to say. “The world survived because it laughed,” reads another popular maxim. Many more positive things can be said about this phenomenon. And yet – do we know what happens in us when we laugh? What causes laughter in us and how can it be useful to us?
By common definition, laughter is a sonorous expression of joy, happiness, fun, or an inner feeling of happiness and pleasure, accompanied by characteristic facial expressions and even grimaces. Prolonged and “infectious” laughter often leads to tears and pain in certain muscle groups (face, abdomen, etc.). It can be obtained as a psychological reaction from jokes, from physical touch, such as tickling. Inhalation of nitric oxide can cause laughter, as well as some drugs such as marijuana.
Laughter is part of human behavior and is regulated by the brain. It helps people to express their thoughts, feelings and intentions more clearly in the social environment. Laughter gives an emotional context to the conversations and serves as a signal that someone is part of the group, that is, it signals acceptance and positivism towards others. Sometimes it is contagious – the laughter of an individual can provoke laughter in others. The study of laughter and humor and their psychological and psychological influences on the human body is called gelotology.
Table of Contents
When do we start laughing?
Recent studies show that babies as early as 17 days make laughter-like sounds or spontaneous laughter. However, this contradicts earlier research, according to which newborns usually start laughing at the age of about four months. According to some ancient authors, laughter occurs in people aged about 40 days. Robert R. Provine, a neurologist and researcher at the University of Maryland (USA), has spent decades studying laughter. In an interview with WebMD, he said: “Laughter is a mechanism that is in each of us. Laughter is part of everyone’s vocabulary.
There are thousands of languages, hundreds of thousands of dialects, but almost everyone “speaks” the language of laughter in almost the same way. ”To confirm his words, he points out that babies laugh long before they speak, and children who are born deaf or blind Provine is opposed to the notion that “laughter is a primitive, unconscious making of sounds” and believes that people who laugh more than others carry this trait in their genes.
In a study of “Laughing Twins”, two extremely cheerful twins were separated from each other after birth and met again only after 43 years. Provine reports that until her reunion, none of these extremely witty ladies knew anyone else who would laugh more than she did. They claim this, although both are adopted by different foster families, who they describe as “restrained and strict”. Robert Provine believes that in this case, the twins have inherited some aspects of their way of laughing, willingness to laugh, and maybe even their sense of humor.
Reasons for laughter There are various theories about the causes and nature of laughter. For Aristotle, we laugh at the uglier and inferior people because we are glad to be more than them. According to Plato, Socrates says that the ridiculous is characterized by manifestations of ignorance of oneself. Francis Hutchison, in his work Thoughts on Laughter (1725), expresses his view, which then lays the foundations of the theory of the comic, namely that laughter is born in response to the perception of absurdity.
Arthur Schopenhauer writes that the perceived absurdity is the discrepancy between an abstract concept and the real object that embodies it. Hegel shares almost the same understanding. For Freud, laughter is an “economic phenomenon” whose function is to release “psychic energy” that has been wrongly mobilized by deceptive expectations.
The effect of laughter on the body
The brain
According to modern neurophysiology, laughter is associated with the activation of the ventromedial prefrontal cortex in the cerebral cortex, leading to the release of endorphins. Studies show that parts of the limbic system are associated with laughter. This system is a primitive part of the brain, whose activity controls emotions and controls the basic activities necessary for survival. The elements of this chain (amygdala, hippocampus, thalamus and hypothalamus) mediate and control the momentary mood and feelings of friendship, love and attraction. The middle part of the hypothalamus is identified as the center in the brain responsible for loud and uncontrolled laughter.
The heart
Studies show that laughter protects the heart. Although they do not clarify the cause, they show that psychological stress leads to the destruction of the endothelium, which is a protective layer of cells on the inner walls of blood and lymph vessels. Once damaged, this barrier can cause a number of inflammatory processes that cause cholesterol to build up in the coronary arteries.
This in turn can lead to a heart attack. Research by Steve Sultanoff, president of the American Association for Therapeutic Humor, shows that when laughed out loud, the hormone serum cortisol, which is released in stressful situations, decreases significantly. Laughter also increases the body’s production of antibodies, which can help maintain good arterial health and reduce the chance of heart attacks.
Diabetes
A study in Japan shows that laughter lowers blood sugar levels after eating. Keiko Hayashi and his team at Chukuba University in Ibaraki conducted an experiment with 19 people with diabetes. For two consecutive days, they took blood samples from the participants before and two hours after meals. On the first day after dinner, all participants listened to a 40-minute boring lecture. On the second day, patients watched a 40-minute comedy show.
In both cases, the subjects’ blood sugar was elevated after the meal, but the samples after the show were significantly lower than those after the lecture. The study was repeated with people who did not suffer from diabetes, and the results were the same. Scientists conclude that laughter is beneficial for diabetics and the hormones produced during laughter can compensate for the hormonal imbalance of the disease.
Arthritis
There are numerous studies that confirm the analgesic effect of laughter, especially in arthritis, spinal problems and neurological diseases. It is claimed that 10 minutes of laughter can provide the patient with an additional 2 hours of pain-free sleep.
Blood circulation
A study conducted at the University of Maryland on a group of people showed that after watching a comedy, their blood vessels functioned normally, while when watching a drama – they were more constricted, which hindered blood circulation.
Immune system
Stress has been shown to weaken the immune system. Some studies show that laughter increases the number of antibodies in the human body and strengthens the cells of the immune system. When we laugh, tumor and virus killer cells increase along with T cells, B cells, and the gamma-interferon protein (which fights disease). In addition to lowering blood pressure, laughter increases oxygen in the blood, which stimulates healing processes. All this comes to prove in an indisputable way that people who like humor are less likely to get sick. Studies have even shown that respiratory diseases surround children of happy mothers.
Laughter as fitness
Scientists have estimated that if we laugh 100 times, this is equivalent to physical activity of 10 minutes on a rowing machine or 15 minutes on an ergometer (exercise bike). When laughing, the diaphragm, abdominal, respiratory, facial muscles, as well as the muscles of the legs and back are exercised. Laughter has been clinically proven to tighten the stomach. Jarren Cohen, who conducted many experiments on laughter at his lab in Newark, New Jersey, said that “laughter not only helps with heart activity, but also with good looks on the beach.”
Although some people think that it is impossible for something as simple and painless as laughter to strengthen the abdominal muscles, 14 out of 15 Cohen’s patients say that it is a better and more fun workout than abdominal presses. For laughter to really work, it must last for at least 30 seconds until the laughing person feels a slight burning pain.
Asthma
Stuart Gary, a professor of medicine at New York University Medical Center, reports a study of asthma patients, two-thirds of whom say they have bouts of their disease as a result of laughter. They say it doesn’t matter if the laughter is just a giggle or a throaty laugh. Patients participated in an 18-month program aimed at identifying the various causes of asthma crises. There were no major differences in age, duration of illness, or family history between people.
However, exercise attacks were twice as common in people who had asthma attacks and laughter. Andrew Rice notes that “the crisis is probably due to both spasms in the airways and the emotional response.
Types of laughter therapies
There are many well-documented and ongoing studies of laughter. They have led to new beneficial therapies with humor and laughter, used by doctors, psychiatrists and other mental health professionals to help patients with a variety of physical, mental and emotional distress. Some of the therapies can be practiced individually or in a group environment. In Voltaire’s words, “the art of medicine is to entertain the patient while nature heals his disease.”
Humor therapy
Using humorous materials such as books, shows, movies or short stories aims to encourage spontaneous discussion of fun events from patients’ lives. The therapy is led by a medical professional and can be individual or group, and group therapy has the disadvantage that it can be difficult to find materials that all patients can find funny at the same time. It is very important for the doctor to be tactful in this therapy and to laugh not at the patients, but together with them.
Clown therapy
In some hospitals, “clown circles” are made. The clowns perform various magic tricks, sing, laugh and sympathize with the children. In hospitalized children, clown therapy can increase patient-physician cooperation and reduce anxiety in parents and children. In some children, the need for sedation is reduced. Other benefits include reduced pain and increased stimulation of children’s immune systems.
An Italian study of children undergoing minor surgery shows that they feel much calmer and safer when they have a clown in addition to the medical team and their parents. According to researchers, about 60% of children before surgery experience anxiety, and stronger anxiety increases the risk of postoperative complications. Half of the 40 observed children aged 5 to 12 waited for the operation, surrounded only by their parents and doctors, and the other half was accompanied by a clown.
The results showed that the children in the second group experienced less preoperative anxiety. The advantages of clown therapy make it suitable not only for hospitals, but also for other places with more difficult living conditions such as orphanages, refugee camps, war zones and even prisons.
Meditation with laughter
There are similarities between traditional meditation and laughter meditation. However, the person’s attention must be concentrated in the moment of laughter. It goes through three phases – stretching, laughing and / or crying and a period of silent meditation. In the first phase, a person tries to move every muscle as much as possible without laughing. The second part begins with a slight smile, which then slowly grows into a purposeful loud laugh or cry, whichever comes first.
In the last phase, the person abruptly stops laughing or crying, and with his eyes closed he breathes deeply without making a sound, focusing on the moment. The whole exercise lasts approximately 15 minutes. This therapy may seem strange to some people because laughter does not come spontaneously. That is why it is practiced individually.
Yoga with laughter and clubs of laughter
Close to traditional yoga, laughter yoga, founded by Dr. Madan Qataria in 1995 in Bombay, is a practice that includes breathing exercises, yoga, stretching techniques, and all accompanied by laughter. The format includes several laughter exercises lasting from 30 to 45 minutes, which may have complementary other therapies or self-preventive nature. Laughter yoga can be practiced in a group or club. It is not necessary to use humorous materials. In recent years, the growing popularity of laughter therapy has led to detailed lexicons with laughing styles.
Tips on how to turn laughter into our constant companion
- Try to find something funny even in the most unpleasant situation. Imagine how a comedian will tell you this situation or try to pass it on to your friends with a sense of humor.
- If you have the opportunity to watch comedy or action – choose the comedy.
- Put fun things in your home or ones that bring back funny memories so that when you look at them, they make you smile.
-
Even if you don’t feel like laughing, try to force yourself and smile. Even this in itself will make you feel better.
-
Meet as often as possible with people who have a strong sense of humor and make you relax.
- When listening to a joke or a funny story, try to imagine and imagine the event as real as possible – it will definitely make you laugh more.
