Free Medicine? Ha! That’s a Laugh!

Seriously, laughter has healing powers and is available to all.

Photo by Unsplash+ in collaboration with Getty Images

What if I told you that you have access to a free miracle drug that can lower your risk of heart attack, lower your glucose level, reduce the inflammation of rheumatoid arthritis, relieve tension, improve cognitive function, and lengthen your lifespan? Would you be interested? Would you believe me?

It’s true! I kid you not.

This wonder drug is laughter. Big honking obnoxious laughter. Quiet giggling laughter. Uninhibited throw-your-head-back-and-roar laughter.

This miracle drug doesn’t get lots of attention in the medical press or the popular press – perhaps because pharmacies and doctors can’t make money on it – but scientific studies confirm that laughter has a variety of beneficial effects on our minds and bodies. Also, notes Natalie Dattilo, of Harvard Medical School’s Psychiatry Department, laughter has no side effects and no contraindications.

Medical science began paying serious attention to laughter only in recent decades, after a prominent editor told how laughter cured him of a debilitating illness. Norman Cousins, for 30 years the editor of the Saturday Review, was struck down in 1964 by a painful, crippling connective tissue disease. Doctors told him he had a 1-in-500 chance of a full recovery. Cousins and his doctor battled back with a unique treatment plan involving massive infusions of Vitamin C, paired with massive infusions of laughter. Cousins watched the TV show Candid Camera, the anarchic antics of the Marx Brothers, and other comic films. He discovered that 10 minutes of genuine belly laughs resulted in hours of pain-free sleep. In 1979 his experience with “laughter therapy,” published as Anatomy of an Illness as Perceived by the Patient, became a best-seller and spurred research into laughter’s effects.

Long-Term and Short-Term Benefits

What research has uncovered also reinforces findings on the mind-body connection. Laughter triggers the brain to produce chemicals that can cause a wide range of physiological changes.

Laughter has both short-term and long-term effects.

An immediate effect is greater intake of oxygen-rich air, which stimulates the heart, the lungs, and the muscles while causing the brain to release more endorphins. Laughter also acts like turning a computer off, then on – it releases a buildup of stress in the body, lowering the heart rate and blood pressure. It can also stimulate circulation and relax muscles that have tightened with stress.

Over the long term, laughter relieves pain by causing the body to produce its own natural painkillers. It can strengthen your immune system, which can be weakened by negative thoughts. Positive thoughts release neuropeptides that help fight stress and other potentially serious illnesses. Laughter can improve your ability to cope with difficult situations. Perhaps most important, it can lessen depression and anxiety and improve your mood.

On a personal note: In the years when I was working, I consistently tried to bring laughter and lightness to the workplace. Work, it seemed to me, was hard enough and pressured enough without having to be uptight about it too. When pressures ratcheted up and deadlines loomed, I was fond of telling others, “Just click your heels three times and say, ‘It’s only a soap opera.’” I like to think my co-workers appreciated this contribution and enjoyed working with me because of it. On the other hand, I once blew a job interview for a senior position because I said one of my most important leadership principles was fun. “Fun?” said the executive to whom I would have reported. “Fun has nothing to do with work!” Looking back, I feel fortunate I never had to work for that schmuck.

Where To Find Funny

If you’re not in a laughing mood and need a tickle to your funny bone, we are blessed to live in an age when a vast storehouse of comedic stimuli is available at our fingertips. It’s called YouTube. If you search it for “comedy” or similar terms, you can sample funny movie scenes, tv sitcoms, and performances by standup comedians. Among the last, I strongly recommend Robin Williams and Sindhu Vee. Also, in the spirit of Norman Cousins, I am highly partial to any of the Marx Brothers repertoire. And the movie A Fish Called Wanda left me ROTFLMAO. Literally.

Also, seeing the world at a grandchild’s eye level is a delightful way to gain a fresh outlook on life, one guaranteed to be more fun and laughter-filled than the adult viewpoint.

So if you want to live with less pain and more pep, for more years, keep this scientific finding in mind: He who laughs best laughs last.