By Joe Oleniacz, MD, a Pediatrician for The Carolina
Permanente Medical Group, PA.
By Stephen Bachhuber, MD, an Anesthesiologist for Northwest
Permanente, PC.
How to Use Humor to Stay Healthy
Babies start to laugh when they are 10 weeks old; six weeks later
they are laughing about once every hour. Four-year-olds laugh once every
four minutes. The average grown-up is said to laugh only about 15 times
per day. Sadly, our culture tends to inhibit humor. We learn to associate
growing up with "getting serious," and being "serious"
is somehow equated with being solemn and humorless. We are ordered to
"wipe that smile off your face" and told that things are "no
laughing matter." Sometimes we repress our good humor, because
we're afraid that others will think we're frivolous or foolish. Our
funny bone gets broken. Fortunately, a laugh prescription is not a bitter
pill to swallow. Here are some suggestions for repairing your sense
of humor and regaining healthy laughter:
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Expose yourself to humor
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Keep a humor journal
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Tell a joke
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Laugh at yourself
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Look for the funny side
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Exaggerate
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Try a retake
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Try humor instead of anger
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Use humor to handle anxiety
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Make up a comedy routine
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Hang out with happy people
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Put on a happy face
Adapted and reprinted with permission
from "The Healthy Mind, Healthy Body Handbook" by David Sobel,
MD and Robert Ornstein, PhD (Los Altos, CA: DRx, 1996) and "The
Mind/Body Health Newsletter." For further information about
the book or for newsletter subscriptions, contact the Center for Health
Sciences at 1-800-222-4745.
