Humor and Laughter As They Relate to Stress and Pain Reduction, And, Perhaps, Better Health

July 6, 2015

To understand some of the nature, theories, and functions of humor and laughter as they relate to stress and pain reduction, and, perhaps, better health.

Incongruity – ill-suited pairing of ideas

Ambiguity – a word or phrase that has more than one meaning – the second meaning presents the incongruity

Doc Grumpy Happy Sleepy Bashful Sneezy Dopey

 Smiles and Laughter

 Verbal Statements

 Physiological Changes  Increased heart rate  Increased skin conductance  Increased muscle tension  Changes in respiration & EEG  Possible release of endorphins  These same changes are associated with jogging. Laughter = Internal Jogging

- William Fry, M.D.  Szabo, A. (2003)

- 20 minutes on a treadmill - 20-minute comedy video - 20-minute documentary video Changes in Anxiety & Affect

35 30 25

20 15

10 Exercise 5 Humor 0 Documentary

Percent Change -5 -10 -15 Well -20 Anxiety Being Distress Fatigue -25 Was it the humor that caused the results? Or, as Fry thought, was it the laughter? Duchenne Smile & Laugh

 Listened to a humorous, relaxation, or dull narrative tape or nothing. Only used people who laughed

 Pain threshold measured by automatic inflation of a blood pressure cuff. . Laughter – 20 min. Lily Tomlin audiotape . Relaxation – 20 min. progressive muscle relaxation tape . Dull Narrative– 20 min. audiotape on ethics . No Treatment Control Discomfort Thresholds

180 169 160 140 130 120 100 91 85 Pain Threshold 80 60 40 20 0 Laughter Relax Dull Control  Laughter may increase the release of endorphins.  Humor or laughter may increase positive emotions.  Humor or laughter may relieve stress.  Humor may serve as a distraction.  Immersed arm in water kept at 1o C for as long as they could.  10 min. break.  Watched either :  a neutral film: popular science tv show  a humorous film: slapstick from a popular tv show  a repulsive film: segment from a horror film  or no film at all while arm immersed in water. Mean Pain Tolerance in Seconds 140

120

100

80 Before Film After Film 60

0 No Film Neutral Film Repulsive Film Humorous Film  Had children aged 7 – 16 years old immerse hand in ice water. Measured pain tolerance in seconds.

 Trial 1 – Control

 Trial 2 – Following Humorous Video

 Trial 3 – During Humorous Video Mean Pain Tolerence (seconds) 90 80.42 80

60 58.74 52.26 50

0 No Video Following During Humorous Video Humorous Video A Field Experiment with Hospitalized Children Bertini, Isola, Paolone, & Curcio (2011) 21 children interacted for two hours with clowns experienced in the field of pediatric intervention. 22 children had no contact with clowns. Pain self-evaluation scale (0 - 10) 4.50 4.00 4.00 3.50 3.50 3.30

3.00

2.50 No Clown Clown 2.00 1.50 1.50

1.00

0.50

0.00 Pre-clown Post-clown Norman Cousins Norman Cousins

2 Hours of pain free sleep  5 to 9 point drop in blood sedimentation.

 Indicative of a resolution of the inflammation.

Dillon, Minchoff, & Baker (1985) -- 30 min Richard Pryor videotape -- 30 min educational videotape Dillon, Minchoff, & Baker (1985) Effect of Humor on Mean S-IgA Concentrations

30 25.94 25 20 16.17 15 IgA (mg/dl) IgA - 10 5 Mean S 0 Pre-Humor Post-Humor F = 8.92, p < .005 Lefcourt, Davidson-Katz, & Kueneman (1990) -- 2 groups listened to a 30 min audio tape of Mel Brooks & Carl Reiner -- 1 group watched 30 min videotape of Bill Cosby  In all 3 studies, S-IgA levels increased following the presentation of humorous stimuli, while remaining stable in a control study.  People with a better sense of humor had larger increases following their exposure to humorous stimuli. Kuiper & Nicholl (2004) studied four components of sense of humor and their relation to a broad range of physical health concepts. People with a higher levels of humor have a more positive perception of their health, leading to less concern in maintaining a healthy lifestyle and seeking appropriate treatment.

 Why isn’t “phonetic” spelled the way it is pronounced?  Why are there Interstate highways in Hawaii?  Why do we drive on “parkways” and park on “driveways”?  Why do they put Braille dots on drive-up ATMs?  If 7-11 is open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, why are there locks on the door?

Bertini, M., Isola, E., Paolone, G., & Curcio, G. (2011). Clowns benefit children hospitalized for respiratory pathologies. Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine, 2011. Cogan, R., Cogan, D., Waltz, W., & McCue, M. (1987). Effects of laughter and relaxation on discomfort thresholds. Journal of behavioral medicine, 10(2), 139-144. Cousins, N. (1979). Anatomy of an Illness as Perceived by the Patient: Reflections on Healing and Regeneration. WW Norton & Company. Dillon, K. M., Minchoff, B., & Baker, K. H. (1985). Positive emotional states and enhancement of the immune system. International Journal of Psychiatry in Medicine, 15(1), 13-18. Kuiper, N. A., & Nicholl, S. (2004). Thoughts of feeling better? sense of humor and physical health. Humor: International Journal of Humor Research, 17(1-2), 37-66. Lefcourt, H. M., Davidson-Katz, K., & Kueneman, K. (1990). Humor and immune-system functioning. Humor: International Journal of Humor Research, 3(3), 305-321. Stuber, M., Hilber, S. D., Mintzer, L. L., Castaneda, M., Glover, D., & Zeltzer, L. (2009). Laughter, humor and pain perception in children: a pilot study. Evidence-based complementary and alternative medicine, 6(2), 271-276. Szabo, A. (2003). The acute effects of humor and exercise on mood and anxiety. Journal of Leisure Research, 35(2), 152. Weisenberg, M., Tepper, I., & Schwarzwald, J. (1995). Humor as a cognitive technique for increasing pain tolerance. Pain, 63(2), 207-212.