by Paul McGhee
Published by AuthorHouse, 2010, 363 pages.
Available from www.Amazon.com ($21.95 or less) or www.AuthorHouse.com ($17.95 or $9.95 as an e-book).
You’ve heard all the sound bites about humor and health on radio and television over the years, but how do humor and laughter really boost your health and well being? This book provides a very readable (but in-depth) discussion of the latest research on the health and coping benefits of humor and the areas of the brain involved in understanding and enjoying humor. References to the original research are included.
The first chapter (134 pages) discusses experimental and other forms of research documenting humor’s effectiveness in boosting emotional resilience and coping with stress. Other topics include the impact of humor on marriage, spirituality, happiness and life-satisfaction, along with the use of humor in real-life high-stress situations (e.g., among cancer patients and hospital staff, and in natural disasters and other emergency situations, in war and among prisoners of war). The specific mechanisms via which humor helps you cope are also discussed.
The second chapter (118 pages) discusses the first wave of research showing humor’s ability to reduce pain and strengthen the immune system and then discusses the newest (current) research evidence documenting a positive impact of humor and laughter on specific disease conditions, including asthma, COPD, rheumatoid arthritis, certain skin allergies, diabetes and coronary heart disease. Evidence of the impact of humor and laughter upon gene expression is also discussed. Changes in the body associated with positive emotion play a key role in causing the health and healing benefits of humor. All of the research on humor and health is linked to the broader field of psychoneuroimmunology, which points to the key role of positive emotion in promoting good health. Humor is noted as one of the quickest and most effective tools we have to boost positive emotion,
The final chapter discusses the latest evidence of the brain’s involvement in understanding and enjoying (reward or pleasure centers in the brain are activated in response to humor) humor. Considerable attention is given to the different roles of the right and left cerebral hemispheres in humor.