Humor

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Humor and laughter can play a critical role in our ability to cope with stress and anxiety. Having a good laugh may even increase the activity of natural killer cells, which are part of the immune system. Studies have shown that the use of humor helps patients better cope with their illness, including having a greater psychological adjustment to their illness. En joying humor with the patient can also help relieve your stress.

Hospitals have begun to recognize the power of laughter: some have special in-house 24-hour comedy channels, while others welcome regular visits from specially trained clowns. There is much absurdity in our world, and to laugh is to feel a bit lighter and more hopeful.

Paul Pearsall, a scientist and multiple-year survivor of stage 4 lymphoma, believes that most of us have “delight deficiency syndrome.” Give yourself and the patient permission to embrace humor. Rent a movie, pick up a humorous book or the newspaper funnies, or call your funniest friend for an instant dose of humor. Many comedians have audiotapes or CDs you can listen to during a commute or a chemo session.

Humor can reduce your stress level in an enjoyable and relatively inexpensive way. As Mary Pettibone Poole once wrote, “He who laughs….lasts!”

For More Information:

• American Film Institute’s 100 years…100 laughs: www.afi.com
• Not Now…I’m having a No Hair Day: Humor & Healing for People with Cancer by Christine Clifford, University of Minnesota Press, 1996
• The Cancer Embrace: Discovering Insight, Wisdom and Humor Through the Cancer Experience by Patrice Wiper, 2004
•  Humor after the Tumor: One Woman’s Look at her Year with Breast Cancer by Patty Gelman and Leslie Zemsky