Humor and laughter can be effective self-care tools to cope with stress. An ability to find humor gives us a sense of perspective on our problems. Laughter provides a physical release for accumulated tension.
Humor is a quality of perception that enables us to experience joy even when faced with adversity. Stress is an adverse condition during which we may experience tension or fatigue, feel unpleasant emotions, and sometimes develop a sense of hopelessness or futility. People work in stress-filled environments that place demands upon their physical, emotional, and spiritual well being. Responding to these demands while protecting ourselves from their potentially harmful impact will help us remain healthy.
Selye, (1956) a pioneer researcher in psychosomatic medicine, defined stress as the rate of wear and tear within the body as it adapts to change or threat. Chronic exposure to job stress can lead to burnout, which Maslach (1982) defines as "a syndrome of emotional exhaustion and cynicism that occurs frequently among individuals who do `people work' of some kind."
Stress has been shown to create unhealthy physiologic changes. The connection between stress and high blood pressure, muscle tension, immunosuppression, and many other changes has been known for years. We now have proof that laughter creates the opposite effects. It appears to be the perfect antidote for stress. Laughter stimulates the immune system, offsetting the immunosuppressive effects of stress.
Berk, (1989a, 1989b) at Loma Linda University School of Medicine's Department of Clinical Immunology, has conducted carefully controlled studies showing 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/suppressor receptors. In short, laughter stimulates the immune system, offsetting the immunosuppressive effects of stress..................
