Humor helps fight stress and restore balance

• What makes us laugh?

By Francesca Donlan
Gannett News Service

Illustration by Jon Orque • The Honolulu Advertiser Why and how does laughter work its magic? Popular wisdom says laughter is the best medicine. In fact, there are no less than four good reasons to laugh, according to the American Association of Therapeutic Humor. Laughter reduces serum cortical (a hormone released during the stress response). Laughter increases immunoglobin A (an antibody that helps fight upper respiratory disease). Laughter increases tolerance to pain. Laughter increases heart rate, pulse rate, and "juggles" the internal organs.

There is a reason they say laughter is the best medicine. It reduces stress, fights disease and helps manage pain, according to the American Association of Therapeutic Humor.

And then there are the psychological benefits of a good laugh. It offers perspective, calms nerves and breaks tension. As Jimmy Buffet croons, "If we couldn't laugh, we would all go insane."

Carol O'Flaherty, who has been described as the "nurse of mirth," knows the power of a good guffaw.

"The health benefits are phenomenal," says O'Flaherty, a registered nurse, certified laugh leader and public speaker. She cracks up audiences with presentations such as "the worth of mirth."

"People ask me if I've given up nursing," she says. "This is nursing.

"Laughter is all about preventing disease and illness and restoring them to an optimal level of health."

O'Flaherty leads a laughter club Thursday afternoons in Naples, Fla.

"It improves the immune system, lowers blood pressure and reverses the chemistry of stress," she says.

There isn't anyone who wouldn't benefit from a strong fit of the giggles every day, she says. "It's available to everyone, but some people don't choose to use it."

Margot Escott uses laughter in her personal and professional life.

The clinical social worker and psychotherapist has taught workshops about the health benefits of humor for the past 15 years.

"It helps to bring a sense of joy and peace to people," she says.

Escott is also a certified laughter leader and member of the American Association of Therapeutic Humor and World Laughter Clubs International.

"We need time to brush our teeth, and we need our daily dose of vitamin L," she says.

Despite laughter's health benefits, adults aren't finding the time to chuckle every day, Escott says. She recommends hanging out with people who are funny.

"Find a humor ally. That's a person who no matter what will bring a giggle and guffaw."

Make it a point to read funny books, go to comedy clubs or find the silliness in daily life, she says.

About three years ago, Escott passed on her laughter techniques to a rehabilitation and healthcare center in Naples.

"Everybody needs a good laugh," Escott says, "especially people feeling sick and not up to snuff. "When you least feel like laughing is when you most need to laugh."

On the Web

Find a laugh a day by logging onto www.laughbreak.com.

What makes us laugh?

Do you ever wonder why all that potty talk makes little kids cry with laughter? Here are some reasons.

Infants and children: Much of what goes on seems ridiculous and surprising to them, which strikes them as funny. What's funny to a toddler consists of short, simple concepts, like an elephant joke. Also, children — much to their parents' dismay — appreciate jokes where cruelty is present (it boosts their self-assertiveness) and what we call toilet humor.

To children, a preoccupation with bodily functions is simply another way of exploring their environment.

Pre-teens and teenagers: These years are almost universally awkward and tense. Lots of adolescents and teens laugh at jokes about sex, food, authority figures and any subject that adults consider off-limits. It is an insecure time of life, and young people often use humor as a tool to protect themselves or feel superior.

Adults: Because there is a certain amount of intelligence involved in getting a joke, our sense of humor becomes more developed as we learn more. By the time we're grown, we have experienced much tragedy and success. We laugh at other people and ourselves in shared common predicaments. The adult sense of humor is usually characterized as subtler, more tolerant and less judgmental about differences.

Basically, we laugh at the things that stress us out.

Source: Howstuffworks.com