In 1964, American journalist Norman Cousins received a terminal diagnosis. He had a life-threatening form of arthritis, and doctors told him his chance of survival was 1 in 500. Determined not to be one of the 499, Cousins began researching his illness. The hospital gave him a mountain of prescription pills, but he gradually weaned himself off them in favor of copious amounts of vitamin C to promote oxygen uptake in the blood. And most of all, he decided to laugh a lot.
Cousins had read studies showing that positive emotions could have a positive effect on metabolism. Love, hope, faith and self-confidence seemed beneficial. It also appeared that laughter could strengthen the immune system. So the journalist moved to a hotel room, where he lay chuckling for hours on end. He watched all the Marx Brothers movies, and classic scenes from Candid Camera. He discovered that after 10 minutes of laughter he could enjoy two hours of pain-free sleep. Ultimately, Cousins recovered and wrote a book about his experience, Anatomy of an Illness as Perceived by a Patient. It wasn’t until 1990 that he died, of heart failure.
Research shows that laughter increases the body’s amount of endorphins—feel-good hormones, which are also known for their ability to relieve pain. At the same time, it lowers the amount of the stress hormone cortisol. Today, a range of therapies are based on the healing power of laughter. The Indian doctor Madan Kataria—known as the giggling guru—invented laughter yoga, which combines breathing and relaxation exercises with a facial-muscle workout. According to Kataria, laughter yogis can laugh even when nothing’s funny: the body can’t tell the difference between fake laughter and real. Of course, genuine guffaws are a lot more fun.
This is a description of an article that appeared in the August 2009 issue of The Intelligent Optimist. Members can read the full article here. Non-members can become a member here.