# Is Laughter the Best Medicine?



## Retired (Mar 12, 2007)

:rofl: 

Does laughter really have therapeutic effects?      We've heard for years that laughter is the best medicine, but is is it just an old wives tale?

I've watched stuff on TV that is _supposed_ to be funny, but could not bring myself to laugh, yet when one of my friends begins laughing, I can't hold back joining in.

Is laughing hard wired in us or is it learned?


----------



## Into The Light (Mar 12, 2007)

i think laughter has to be built in. i vaguely remember something about a person who was blind and deaf who smiled just like the rest of us and the conclusion was that this was not learned behaviour because this person could not see or hear.

i believe in laughter being a medicine. when something very funny happens i can feel myself feeling better. the best is when i can't stop laughing - doesn't happen often but when it does it's really very freeing


----------



## David Baxter PhD (Mar 12, 2007)

I laugh at things on the radio in the car, things I see while driving, things I think about in the shower, jokes I tell myself... all of which occur with no one else around...

But then, despite what my kids say, I am really, really funny... 

:thewave:


----------



## Daniel (Mar 12, 2007)

> Does laughter really have therapeutic effects? We've heard for years that laughter is the best medicine, but is is it just an old wives tale?



Certainly, the ability to be humored is limited in severe cases of depression (people don't call 1-800-SUICIDE to listen to jokes), so I would say that distraction or stimulation can be the best medicine with humor being one method of distraction.


----------



## sister-ray (Mar 13, 2007)

I think laughter is very therapeutic, I always feel better when Ive had a laugh, I find it better laughing with someone at something, a tv programme or whatever, laughing alone is ok too but its better shared  Its good to laugh at yourself too it sort of releases stuff,the best laughter is the spontaneous sort that comes from  somewhere inside of you and takes over your whole body, that does really make me feel good:thewave:  this smiley makes me laugh!!!


----------



## sunset (Mar 13, 2007)

I think laughter is very therapeudic! When 9/11 happened the only thing that got me laughing was watching episodes of "Everyone Loves Raymond". For that half hour, I was able to decompress and laugh a little. Wasnt very easy at the time either, and that show, because I find it so funny,  helped me soo much! 
I laugh at myself when I do something stupid or silly, and I try to find humor in things. Like my cousin said, "Dont take life so seriously, its not permanent".


----------



## Cat Dancer (Mar 14, 2007)

I think laughing and humor are wonderful.

I laughed more in the hospital than I have in a long time. Some of the people there were SOO funny. Great people. 

And we laughed at ourselves too which I think is good. 

It really does make me feel better.


----------



## Into The Light (Mar 14, 2007)

David Baxter said:


> But then, despite what my kids say, I am really, really funny...



well it must be true because this statement made me laugh


----------



## Into The Light (Mar 14, 2007)

Janet said:


> I laughed more in the hospital than I have in a long time. Some of the people there were SOO funny.



i think you really needed that. i am glad


----------



## braveheart (Mar 14, 2007)

When I laugh my face hurts [I call it my chuckle muscles! lol] because it doesn't happen that often. When it does I usually can't talk or eat or whatever for a while afterwards..!!! My flatmate and I were laughing like anything over dinner once, and her husband [my other flatmate] didn't get it. I forget what we were laughing over, lol!
Yes, it helps, its a release.

On the other hand, most of my dissociated/other selves/parts have no sense of humour. When you've been laughed AT for all your schooling, the capacity to have fun kind of gets dulled.
But me, I have a sense of humour. A quirky one!


----------



## just mary (Mar 14, 2007)

I think laughing is hard wired, people all over the world and from all cultures laugh/smile.  It must serve some purpose. 

If I think of something funny when I'm alone, I laugh myself silly.  Of course I then have to tell others what made me laugh, and they never find it quite as funny.   

When I laugh with others, it brings us closer together.  I don't feel so defensive or on edge, it breaks the ice, we relax with each other.

Watching someone else "bust their gut" laughing is fun too.  I have a friend who doesn't laugh much but when he does, it's nice to see, particularly afterwards when he's exhausted - he looks a little lighter.

I think laughter is good, as long as it's not malicious but I don't think that's true laughter.


----------



## Retired (Mar 14, 2007)

> people all over the world and from all cultures laugh/smile. It must serve some purpose.



Do you suppose laughter has a kind of bonding effect when we are in a group of people and infectious laughter begins?


----------



## Into The Light (Mar 14, 2007)

i think it does. i think this is also why people are ticklish... tickle a little baby or toddler and your heart just melts.. and they bond with you because you make them laugh


----------



## just mary (Mar 15, 2007)

> Do you suppose laughter has a kind of bonding effect when we are in a group of people and infectious laughter begins?



I think so.  

It reminds me of how you signal a dog to play, you get down on all fours but rest on your elbows, the dog will mimic you and then start to play with you.  It's really neat.  The dog doesn't understand what is happening, but somewhere in his brain he knows "instinctually" that it's time for fun.  And he runs with it.  It makes him happy.

Maybe laughter is a human signal to relax and have fun.  We need to get pleasure out of life in order to keep on going.  Having fun and laughing makes us feel good, it makes life worth living.

jm


----------



## AVC (Mar 18, 2007)

It is great if you can do it without the help of alcohol, that means you have a real sense of humor!


----------



## MDH (Mar 23, 2007)

I think love is the best medicine. Not a cheezy kind, but just the omnipresent kind we all need. You know, that sort of interrelevance to one another.

I think in order to avoid being like ourselves, because we disagree or hate those who are often like us, we tend to stray away from social reality instinctively. This causes a lack of that kind of global love we can apply to things to make ourselves and our lives easier to understand.

That is just my opinion though.

-MDH


----------



## David Baxter PhD (Mar 23, 2007)

MDH said:


> I think love is the best medicine. Not a cheezy kind, but just the omnipresent kind we all need.



I'm not sure what the "cheesy kind" of love is exactly but I'll agree to the first part. 

Mind you, there's no reason you can't combine love with laughter. In fact if you can laugh with someone you love that's perfect.


----------



## Retired (Mar 23, 2007)

> In fact if you can laugh with someone you love that's perfect.



Oh yeah?  What about when the one you love laughs *at* you ?:sigh: 

:sob:


----------



## David Baxter PhD (Mar 23, 2007)

It's a fine line, I admit.


----------

