Welcome to - This column will hereafter be a permanent feature of this web site, although its content will change monthly. It is dedicated to all individuals (and their loved ones) who are now battling cancer, and to Survivors whose cancer is in remission. I’ll occasionally leave you with a joke. This will usually be related to cancer, or some other source of stress in our lives. If you’ve heard a joke along these lines that you love, and would like to see it made available to everyone in this column, please send it to me at HaHaRemedy@viconet.com. Humor Your Tumor January, 2000 Paul E. McGhee, PhD Patch Adams - The Movie "I can't express anger. I grow tumors, instead" Woody Allen
The film documents the life of Patch Adams, M.D., and his efforts to bring joy and laughter to the field of health care. In an effort to sort out problems of his own, Patch checks himself into a mental institution. He discovers in the institution that his real purpose in life is helping others, and decides to go to medical school to get the credentials he needs in order to help people. But Patch quickly discovers that most doctors view patients as a disease condition or a number, not as a human being. He also sees the depressed and anxious faces of patients, and that doctors and nurses are making little effort to help them cope with their illnesses. He realizes the importance of treating each patient first and foremost as a person. His approach to bringing a human touch to healthcare is humor and laughter. Laughter brings joy back into the lives of both children and adults--even those who know that they're going to die soon. Depressed children battling cancer quickly respond to Patch's antics, and--for the moment--appear to regain hope. As Patch goes through medical school he is determined to do whatever is necessary to bring back compassion into health care. He realizes that doctors and nurses can be competent and professional, but still keep their sense of humor. In the process, they help patients feel a forgotten kind of aliveness, even as those patients bravely battle serious illnesses. As earlier articles in Humor Your Tumor have noted, there is no evidence that Dr. Adams' hilarious antics cure cancer or any other illness. But there is evidence that it boosts the quality of life of those patients, and increases hope, determination and optimism. And since humor and laughter do reduce the levels of stress hormones in the blood, and strengthen numerous components of the immune system, Patch's approach to treating patients helps assure that patients' own emotional state will not be working against their health and well-being. It helps the body make as strong a contribution as it can to it's own healing. The reaction (in the movie) of the medical establishment to Patch's attempts to bring humor to patients is becoming less and less typical of hospitals across the country. I've encountered many doctors (and some nurses) who remain convinced of the inappropriateness of bringing any kind of humor into healthcare settings, but their number is diminishing each year. The most common reason given for the inappropriateness of humor in healthcare is that it's simply not professional. When you're seriously ill, you want to know that your doctors and nurses are competent and professional, and we tend to have our doubts about anyone who seems to be goofing off on the job. This is why--whether you're the patient or the doctor/nurse--you want to always establish competence first. Once patients know they are in the hands of competent professionals, they generally welcome an occasional lighter touch--even though they're dealing with a serious personal health crisis. I have met other doctors who object to the idea of bring humor to healthcare because they feel there are no data to support the positive health benefits of humor. The data do exist, however, as you now know if you've read the previous columns of Humor Your Tumor. Once these physicians see the breadth of data on both the physical and mental health benefits resulting from humor and laughter, they generally become more receptive to the idea of humor in hospital settings. The movie Patch Adams promises to go a long way in making the general public aware of the growing trend to build some kind of humor program into healthcare settings. If you have not seen this movie, make it a point to see it soon. If you are a patient in a hospital, or have a friend or loved one who is a patient, ask whether the hospital has any kind humor program. If it doesn't, suggest that they start one. A future article here will focus on the kinds of approaches hospitals have adopted to bring opportunities for laughter to their patients. In connection with a now popular series of books, think of laughter as Chicken Soup for the Soul--as well as the body.
Click here to link to Dr. McGhee's web site at www.LaughterRemedy.com.
Click HERE for additional articles by Dr. McGhee on Humor and health/coping. |
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