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| Humor is Therapeutic Uzma Mazhar Humor is a quality of perception that
enables us to experience joy even when faced with adversity. Finding humor in a situation and laughing
freely with others can be a powerful antidote to stress. Our sense of
humor gives us the ability to find delight, experience joy, and to release
tension. This can be an effective self-care tool. The word humor itself is a word of many
meanings. The root of the word is "umor" meaning liquid or
fluid. In the Middle Ages, humor referred to an energy that was thought to
relate to a body fluid and an emotional state. This energy was believed to
determine health and disposition (i.e. "He's in a bad humor"). In modern dictionaries, humor is defined as
"the quality of being laughable or comical" or as "a state
of mind, mood, spirit". Humor then is flowing; involving basic
characteristics of the individual expressed in the body, emotions, and
spirit. Stress has been shown to create unhealthy
physiological changes. The connection between stress and high blood
pressure, muscle tension, immuno-suppression, and many other changes has been known for years.
Modern research shows that laughter creates the
opposite effects. It appears to be the perfect antidote for stress. Studies show that the experience of laughter lowers serum cortisol
levels, increases the amount of activated T lymphocytes, increases the
number and activity of natural killer cells, and increases the number of T
cells that have helper/ suppresser receptors. In short, laughter
stimulates the immune system, off-setting the immunosuppressive effects of
stress. Research done in the last ten years helps us understand the mind-body connections. The emotions and
moods we experience directly effect our immune system. A sense of humor
allows us to perceive and appreciate the incongruities of life and
provides moments of joy and delight. These positive emotions can create
neuro-chemical changes that will buffer the immunosuppressive effects of
stress. Laughter can provide a cathartic release, a
purifying of emotions and release of emotional tension. Laughter, crying,
raging, and trembling are all cathartic activities which can unblock
energy flow. In his book 'Stress without Distress', Selye
clarified that a person's interpretation of stress is not dependent solely
on an external event, but also depends upon their perception of the event
and the meaning they give it; -- how you look at a situation determines if
you will respond to it as threatening or challenging. Because different people respond differently to the same environmental stimuli, some people seem to cope with stress better than others. Sociologist Suzanne Kobassa has defined three "hardiness factors" which can increase a person's resilience to stress and prevent burnout: -- commitment, control, and challenge. If you have a strong commitment to yourself and your work, if you believe that you are in control of the choices in your life (internal locus of control), and if you see change as challenging rather than threatening; then you are more likely to cope successfully with stress. One theme that is becoming more prominent in the literature is the idea that a causative factor in burnout is a sense of powerlessness. In this context, humor can be an empowerment tool. Humor gives us a different perspective on our problems and, with an attitude of detachment, we feel a sense of self-protection and control in our environment. It is reasonable to assume that if locus of
control measures strongly as internal, that a person will feel a greater
sense of power and thus be more likely to avoid burnout. Humor perception involves the whole brain
and serves to integrate and balance activity in both hemispheres. Derks has shown that there
is a unique pattern of brain wave activity during the perception of humor.
EEG's were recorded on subjects while they were presented with humorous
material. During the setup to the joke, the cortex's left hemisphere began
its analytical function of processing words. Shortly afterward, most of
the brain activity moved to the frontal lobe which is the center of
emotionality. Moments later the right hemisphere's synthesis capabilities
joined with the left's processing to find the pattern -- to 'get the
joke'. A few milliseconds later, before the subject had enough time to
laugh, the increased brain wave activity spread to the sensory processing
areas of the brain, the occipital lobe. The increased fluctuations in
delta waves reached a crescendo of activity and crested as the brain 'got'
the joke and the external expression of laughter began. Derks' findings
shows that humor pulls the various parts of the brain together rather than
activating a component in only one area. Laughing at yourself is not always easy. Frequently one is too immersed in a problem to find any humor in it. It can help to seek out people with that special flair for seeing the funny side of a situation; to use the talent available to aid in the quest for laughter and comic release. Try to create humorous images of problems, exaggerate the situation into the absurd, laugh at your own idiosyncratic behaviors... you will see the stress and tension lift off.
Contact Info: UzmaMazhar@hotmail.com |