Laughter…the Best Medicine

We’ve all heard the saying, laughter is the best medicine. Kaiser Health News recently ran the story, Laughing Until You Die: Humor May Be Antidote For Pain Of Death For Patients, Survivors which focuses on the benefits of laughter.

An aging generation of boomers, the oldest of whom are now 70, grew up to the background sounds of TV laugh tracks and are accustomed to laughing at things that might not always seem so funny. There’s even a non-profit organization funded by donors, conference revenue and membership dues, whose mission is simply reminding people that laughter is a core ingredient of all facets of life — even end of life.

The article provides several anecdotes from folks who live with this laughter philosophy and even mentions the Association for Applied and Therapeutic Humor.  The article cites advice from the association “Make certain that you know the ailing person very well before using humor with them.”  Exactly what type of humor should be used? According to the article, “[f]or some folks, the process of dying comes with less stress when it’s something of a laughing matter. Not a yuk-yuk laughing matter. But, at its simplest, a willingness to occasionally make light of the peculiarities — if not absurdities — that often go hand-in-hand with end-of-life situations.”