Is laughter the best medicine?

Skevington, Suzanne M.; White, Alison

doi:10.1080/08870449808406139

Cited by 19 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 22 publications

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“…In terms of cluster stability, 17 of the studies (29%) repeated the analysis is split halves of the sample or in a different sample drawn from the same population. Five studies (8%) attempted to display stability by finding consistent results across different hierarchical clustering methods, although, with the exception of Shapiro, Rodrigue, Boggs, and Robinson (1994), this was poorly reported (perhaps because there was limited overlap between the methods).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The use and reporting of cluster analysis in health psychology: A review

Clatworthy

Buick

Hankins

et al. 2005

British J Health Psychol

502

409

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The use and reporting of cluster analysis in health psychology: A review

Clatworthy

Buick

Hankins

et al. 2005

British J Health Psychol

502

409

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“…Humor seems to have the potential to effectuate pain relief [5], strengthen immune function [6], improve positive emotions [7], moderate stress [8–11], dissociate from distress [11–13] and improve interpersonal processes [14, 15]. …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Although the “science of humor” is a relatively young field, research from the last 30 years has suggested the mechanisms through which humor may positively impact health [ 4 ]. Humor seems to have the potential to effectuate pain relief [ 5 ], strengthen immune function [ 6 ], improve positive emotions [ 7 ], moderate stress [ 8 – 11 ], dissociate from distress [ 11 – 13 ] and improve interpersonal processes [ 14 , 15 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Use of Humor in Serious Mental Illness: A Review

Gelkopf

2011

Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine

116

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There is now a relatively good understanding of the broad range of direct and indirect effects of humor and laughter on perceptions, attitudes, judgments and emotions, which can potentially benefit the physical and psychological state. This article presents a review and discussion of the use of humor and laughter in treating people with serious mental illness, distinguishing between clinical papers on individual and group psychotherapy, and empirical research reports describing humor and laughter interventions. In spite of the exponential growth of the field over the last 30 years, I conclude that empirical studies are still lacking, the studies that do exist have major methodological shortcomings, and the field is in dire need of further investigation.

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“…Lower distress levels among breast cancer patients before and after surgery (Carver et al, 1993;Johnson, 2002;Roussi, Krikeli, Hatzidimitriou, & Koutri, 2007;Wong, 2005) 3. Fewer depressive symptoms among chronic arthritic patients (Skevington & White, 1998) and older recent widows (Ong, 2004) 4. Better adaptation of elderly when moved to a new residential care facility (Meiselman, 2003) 5.…”

Section: Benefitsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Greatest Veneration: Humor as a Coping Strategy for the Challenges of Aging

Berk¹

2014

Social Work in Mental Health

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One hundred and thirty million Traditionalists and Baby Boomers are tackling the reality of aging. It may be captured by the lyrics to the Alan Menken-Tim Rice song "A Whole New World." The salient characteristics and experiences of these two generations are examined along with a few of the mental and physical challenges they are encountering. Then the research on and applications of humor and laughter to these challenges are reviewed. Particular attention is given to the psychological, physiological, and medical studies that have specific implications for seniors. Coping strategies to deal with daily life challenges are described in terms of detachment from crises and problem situations and coping with interpersonal conflict. The Coping Humor Scale is provided for readers to assess their own coping skills. Then a list of techniques seniors can use to improve their own coping skills, including how to search for humor opportunities, is provided. Despite the potential research-based benefits of humor and laughter, their application to the lives of seniors are not well known. Those benefits should be part of the trend toward complementary or alternative medical treatments over the past two decades. It does not get any more "alternative" than "humor."

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Is laughter the best medicine?

Cited by 19 publications

References 22 publications

The use and reporting of cluster analysis in health psychology: A review

The use and reporting of cluster analysis in health psychology: A review

The Use of Humor in Serious Mental Illness: A Review

The Greatest Veneration: Humor as a Coping Strategy for the Challenges of Aging

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