Humor for good health

or

Coping with Grace and Smile

Presented by: Michael Brodie, MBA, NHA
 Objectives
• Improve understanding of positive and
negative humor.
• Increase knowledge of how humor affects our
physical, psychological and social wellbeing.
• Focus on the use of humor for persons with
Short Term Memory Loss, and their caregivers.
• Set out techniques to improve utilization of
humor and exposure to humor in daily life.
• Laugh and tell a few illustrative jokes.
 TYPES OF HUMOR
• Slapstick

• Getting away with it/getting caught

• Getting it/puns

• Surprise

• Coping/perspective
 Humor as Conflict
• Male vs. Female
• Old vs. Young
• Rich vs. Poor
• City vs. Country (bumpkin jokes)
• Native vs. foreign (polish jokes)
• Jewish vs. everybody else (big surprise!!)
• Black vs. White
 HUMOR AS CONFLICT
• Anatomy of a Punchline:

Professor Peter Derks, College of William and

Mary, used a pet scan to analyze the brains of
people while they were listening to jokes:
While the body of the joke was being told, the
left side of the brain – the creative side, lit up.
The punchline lit up the right side, the logical
side, as it searched for the conflict or mismatch to
the story. Finally, as the subject “got” the joke,
the entire brain was lit up in activity.
 Good Humor……..and Bad
GOOD POLITICALLY INCORRECT
• Instructive • Reinforcing stereotypes
• Revealing • Demeaning
• Truthful • Untruthful
• Inclusive • Exclusive, Elitist
• Reflective • Raises/strengthens barriers
• Destroys/weakens barriers • Lacking redeeming social value
• Creates bonds • Makes someone uncomfortable
• Decreases discomfort
– Unless it’s your own group!!
Gray Cells’ Anatomy – Theory of the Cave
Amygdala:
deep in the brain,
controls fear

Cerebrum, frontal lobe:

surface of the brain,
controls judgment
 Good Humor:
It’s not just for breakfast any more.
• Wellbeing • Tension & stress
• Creativity • Anxiety
• Learning • Blood pressure
• Motivation • Sensitivity to pain
• Immunity (T Cells)
• Energy
• Mental health
 Gurinder Bains, MD research
After watching a 30 minutes humorous video,
elderly clients (average age 74) improved:

–Learning ability – 38.7%

–Delayed recall – 36.1%
–Visual recognition – 6%
 Mental Health
• Social skills
• Relaxation
• Likeability
• Friends
• Enjoyment
• Perspective
• Persuasion
• Romance
• Adaptability
• Control
 Research of:Tse M, Lo A, Cheng T, Chan A, Chung H
• Completion of a humor therapy program amongst older
persons in a nursing home led to significant decreases in
pain, perception of loneliness, and significant increase in
happiness and life satisfaction.
• The program involved social, cognitive and emotional
aspects, and stimuli included funny films, jokes,
cartoons, and sharing.
• The SMILE (2009 – UK Dept. of Health) found a 20%
reduction in agitation with Humor Therapy, similar to
the effect with antipsychotic drugs.
– Humor appears to be an effective
nonpharmacological intervention.
Care Giver’s Daily Routine…
• Mortality
• Depression
• Morbidity
• Care Giving
• Tragedy
• Tension
• Denial
• Frustration
• Victimization
• And Care Giving
 Laughter is the best exercise
• Cultivating your sense of humor
• Laughter and joke clubs
• The world-wide laughter tour
• Laughter yoga
 Physiology of Laughter
• Moves diapragm rapidly up and down
• Exercises the respiratory muscles
• Inflates the lungs
• Stimulates the cardiovascular system
• Increases oxygen in the blood
 Biochemistry of Laughter
• Stimulates brain to produce catecholamine
• Produces epinephrine and dopamine
• Releases endorphins into the system

Results:
– Increased alertness, and eventually increased
sense of well-being.
– Increased lymphocyte production helping to fight
pain and inflammation.
Today’s exercise:
Laughter

HOMEWORK……..
CHILDREN LAUGH 400 TIMES A DAY

ADULTS TYPICALLY LAUGH ONLY 15 TIMES A DAY!

 Humor that may not be funny…
• Sarcasm

• Cover-up and distraction

• Teasing
 The Politics of Humor
• Humor is a requirement for politicians
• No sex or ethnic jokes (at least not near a mike)
• Self deprecation is a solid basis for humor
• When deprecating others – singe, do not burn
• And have a very thick skin.
Mark Katz,Comedy writer
for Bill Clinton and Al Gore
 THE SUTBLE EFFECT OF SMILNG
• A smile is a curve that sets the hole world
strait – Phyllis Diller
• Training babies
• Criticisim with a smile
• Practising smiling
 What makes centenarians different?
• Good genes
• Sense of humor
• Healthy attitude
• Realistic expectations
• Perspective: knowing
what’s important
• Even temperament,
generating less stress
• Ability to find joy
and purpose in life
Passing time without short term memory…..

I’m Lost
I’ve gone to look for myself.
If I should return
before I get back,
please ask me to wait.
 What About Alzheimer’s?
• People with ST Memory Deficit use humor, if they
can – to help themselves, and often to distract from
their problem.
• They fill in the blanks as best they can- sometimes
with tragic and sometimes with funny results.
• Sarcasm & irony are not well understood.
• Laughter and smiling almost always work well.
• Laughing at yourself is good for caregiver and loved
one.
• It is more than possible to share humor with a
person suffering from ST Memory Deficit.
 Humor Technique

• Self Analysis: What makes you laugh?

What makes you grimace?
Puns, slapstick, one upmanship, exaggeration, insults,
amusing stories, imitations, clowning, puppetry, dirty
jokes, filthy & disgusting jokes, cartoons, practical
jokes…

Know yourself, know your audience!!!

 Telling Jokes
• Exaggerate (sell it), maintain interest and control
• Act, modulate, use your face (and hands)
• Don’t rush a punchline – savor and relax
• Practice before you appear in public
• Most important: consider your audience for
knowledge or sensitivity, and for hearing, visual
or cognitive impairment.

• Jokes are a social and auditory experience!!

 Practicing Good Humor Habits
• Reading: Cartoons, humor books, joke
collections, humorous essays
• Writing: If you think it is funny – record it – as
it focuses and extends the effect.
• Kid’s say the darndest things.
• Watching television: Sitcoms, not soaps
• Sharing: humor boards in home and at work
 Practicing Good Humor Habits
• Play games
• Role Playing
• Changing the routine, distraction
• Clowning and puppetry
 Practicing Good Humor Habits
• Finding Humor or Irony

• Creating your Happy File

 Practicing Good Humor Habits

• Start meetings with humor

• Raise money with jokes
• Keep and share scrap books of humor
• Support the humor of others
Meanwhile, In the Emergency Room…
The California Rabbit
Your Sixth Sense