Doctors’ Tools: Steve Allen, Gary Larson, Seinfeld, M.A.S.H., Adam Sandler, Blazing Saddles, The Three Stooges…. The common thread, of course, is humour. At the same time, what is funny to one may not be to another. But if it is, call it a therapeutic tool. Humour can be an important part of the patient-doctor relationship, and it even has physiological benefits.
As a healing tool, humour dates back many centuries. Take the Old Testament for example (Proverbs 17:22): “A merry heart doeth good like a medicine, but a broken spirit drieth the bones.” More recent investigation has linked laughing to other concreted benefits, including better heart health.
In the relationship between doctor and patient, humour is often used to soften what can be very intensive communications. Physicians can help themselves by recognizing their patient’s use of humour as a way of coping. It can be their means of chipping away at the mountain that is the tragedy in their lives. Dr Bill Eaton, in the Canadian Journal of the CME (Oct/02) puts it superbly: Our patients often use humor to express their true feelings while protecting their psyches. ‘If I don’t say it with a laugh, I might cry forever.”
For a definition, we turn to the Association for Applied and Therapeutic Humor. This group, formed in 1988, aims to educate people about the value of laughter and humour in healthcare. They describe therapeutic humour as “any intervention that promotes health and wellness by stimulating a playful discovery, expression or appreciation of the absurdity or incongruity of life's situations….”
So what does laughing do for you? First, laughing stimulates the pituitary which in turn releases “feel-good” hormones like cortisone, oxytocin, thyroxine, and prolactin, and these combine with adrenaline and endorphins. When we are stressed, there is a slow build-up of many of these same hormones to the point where we cannot relax. Laughter stimulates such a huge dose of these that system clears itself, allowing us to become relaxed. Furthermore, strong, continuous laughter flushes out every corner of the lungs including areas that might not even get air on most days; heart rate also goes up and blood flow increases to vital organs.
A study in preventative cardiology at the University of Maryland Medical Center found that the heart-healthy people were more likely to laugh and use humour to get of uncomfortable situations. Those with heart disease were 40% less likely to laugh in the same situations.
Some of the other benefits of a good laugh are more psychological, such as helping to cement memories and to develop or strengthen social bonds. All in all, a few laughs are certainly a good prescription. To close out this week’s article … you knew this was coming, didn’t you?... we finish with a joke:
Teller: You sure do. This is a bank!