Excerpts from Making Sense of Humor
By Lila Green
Published by Knowledge, Ideas & Trends, Manchester, Connecticut, 1993

Rx for Comic Relief

People have always valued humor. Humor for health improvement is not a new prescription. The ancient Greeks included a visit to "the home of comedians" for patients in their healing centers. Depictions of mirth, jokes and slapstick can be found among the Egyptian hieroglyphics.

And the Bible noted: "A merry heart doeth good like a medicine; but a broken spirit drieth the bones." (Proverbs 17:22)

Much of the recent interest in the therapeutic effects of humor can be credited to former Saturday Review editor Norman cousins and his 1979 book, Anatomy of an Illness as Perceived by the Patient.

Cousins had been diagnosed with ankylosing spondylitis, an uncommon, painful, life-threatening disease of the connective tissue. Facing chances of recovery said to be one in 500, Cousins embarked on a home remedy that included heavy doses of laughter. If negative feelings could cause imbalances in the endocrine system, he reasoned, positive feelings could reverse the process.

Laughter - Natural Stress Management

Patients aren't the only ones who need humor in the health care environment. While many work settings are stressful, hospitals, clinics, nursing homes and other short-term and extended care facilities are even more so. And the stress affects everyone:

• Patients are scared, anxious and embarrassed.
• Patients' families share these emotions, compounded by feelings of helplessness.
• Staff members are under constant pressure and an ever-present threat of failure. They are frustrated by their inability to relieve these sufferings completely.

Normal social conventions are suspended in this environment. People in various states of dress and undress are poked, prodded and publicly discussed. The ability to find humor in life's incongruities is vital to good mental health. Being able to laugh at ourselves in uncomfortable situations goes a long way toward relieving the discomfort. At least for the moment, it replaces worry with optimism.

Home-Brewed Remedies

Anyone can use humor to help lighten up the serious business of illness.

When a friend was hospitalized for an extended period with leukemia, a group of us helped overcome the discomfort and listlessness produced by monthly doses of chemotherapy. We regularly brought inexpensive items to transform her fundamental hospital room to a more fun-filled room. How?

• We changed her window "view" each month with posters of cityscapes, mountains, oceans and palm trees.
• We hung a home-made mobile with pictures of her pets over her bed, and brought in a goldfish bowl for her nightstand.
• We reinstated her normal social role of hostess by filling a big basket with a changing array of daily treats, from chocolate kisses to fresh strawberries to home-baked cookies. These she could offer to visitors and staff.
• We kept her entertained and buoyant with a steady stream of comic books, balloons and toys.

The hospital staff told us she handled her chemotherapy much better that expected. Our action required creativity, but very little money.

Our efforts also boosted the spirits of the doctors, nursing staff, visitors and other patients, who never knew what new surprises to expect when they entered the room. As I've mentioned, humor benefits health professionals as much as their patients!

A Good Prognosis

Humor has a positive impact on health from any and all perspectives - it assists patients, care providers, visitors, family and friends. It diminishes stress and restores hope and optimism. Laughter is not a cure for anything - humor should be a part of an overall treatment plan, not a substitute for medical attention.

Erma Bombeck's 1989 book, I Want To Grow Hair, I Want To Grow Up, I Want To Go To Boise, is about children with cancer, and the optimism with which they triumph over their illness. It is one of the finest testimonies to the power of humor on health. Few people believed that humor and cancer could be a compatible topic. As one of the kids Bombeck interviewed asked, "Would you be happier if we cried all the time?"

She quotes a letter from a mother that reads: "Humor is what got all of us through the clinic visits, the hospital stays, the blood tests, the loss of hair and weight. There is always something on the light side if you look for it."

Humor is one of the healthiest most therapeutic mechanisms that human beings have. Humor and laughter are healing physically and emotionally. Humor prompts laughter; laughter provides the biochemical change.

Humor is great in health care. I still can't figure out why Blue Cross doesn't pay for it!

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