Laughter Medicine

Chapter I.- Laughter Medicine

A. What is it

Laughter is a reaction of a certain stimuli, this stimuli can be a joke, tickles or other stimuli; it can be considered an expression of happiness and joy. Laughter is a part of the human behavior controlled by the brain helping humans clarify their intentions in social interaction and providing an emotional context to conversations. “Laughter is a mechanism everyone has; laughter is part of universal human vocabulary. There are thousands of languages, hundreds of thousands of dialects, but everyone speaks laughter in pretty much the same way.” (Robert Provine) It is contagious, and the laughter of one person can itself provoke laughter from others as a feedback. “Laughter is a form of communication, probably the first one in the human race, which later evolved, with the liberation of voice from walking and breathing, into human language.” (Robert Provine)

Laughter is part of the universal human vocabulary. All members of the human species understand it. We're born with the capacity to laugh. One of the nicest things about laughter is that it occurs unconsciously. You don't decide to do it. While we can consciously inhibit it, we don't consciously produce laughter. Laughter is triggered by many sensations and thoughts, and that it activates many parts of the body. When we laugh, we alter our facial expressions and make sounds. During exuberant laughter, the muscles of the arms, legs and trunk are involved.

The study of humor and laughter, and its psychological and physiological effects on the human body, is called gelotology.

B. Historical Background

There are some theories that lead that laughter and anger have kind of the same origins, with some kinds of laughter in primates apparently being threatening.

Laughter evolved from the panting behavior of our ancient primate ancestors. Apes laugh in conditions in which human laughter is produced, like tickle, and games. The special sounds and gestures made by little chimpanzees when they are tickled suggest that the origins of laughter may pre-date human evolution, according to a new report. “Chimpanzee laughter usually happens in a different social context than it does in humans; chimps laugh almost all the time when there is physical contact, while most adult human laughter occurs during conversation without touching being involved.” (Robert Provine) A study of a young monkey found that when it was tickled it combined vocalizations and facial gestures much like those made by human infants.

The first laughter appears at about 3 to 4 months of age, before we're able to speak. Laughter is a way for a preverbal infant to interact with the mother and other caregivers. Most laughter is not about humor; it is about relationships between people; can be represented as a message that we send to other people. Some scientists think human ancestors may have laughed in groups before they could speak and that laughter may have been a precursor to language.

“Laughter originated in primates, can be a universal signal of health in a playful situation to help regulate social interactions.” (Zimmerman) A pre-human evolutionary origin for laughter could also explain why it is still present in deaf and blind children, and why it represents the same in people from different cultures.

Chapter II.- Benefits and Effects

A. Social Benefits

Humor can be the perfect bond between people; it makes the relationship stronger by joining the positive feelings and the emotional connection; this bond act as a regulator of stress, disagreements and disappointment. Shared laughter is the best tool for keeping a relationship attached for many years because it is an effective way to heal resentments, disagreements and hurts; and also adds joy, vitality and resilience to the relationship. Laughter unites people during difficult times.

Incorporating more humor and play into your daily life activities can improve the quality of your love relationships, as well as your connections with family members, classmates/co-workers and friends.

B. Physical health

Laughter is a powerful antidote to stress, pain and conflict. Laugh easily and frequently should be a good resource for problem solutions, enhancing your relationships, and supporting both physical and emotional health. Paul E. McGhee said that the sense of humor is one of the most powerful tools everyone has, to make certain that your daily mood and emotional state support good health.

Humor is good for health because it relaxes your whole body which helps you to release stress and physical tension,

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