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Humor Your Tumor

This column 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
March, 2001
Paul E. McGhee, PhD

Using Humor to Cope:
Humor in the Midst of War

"In prehistoric times, mankind often had only two choices in crisis situations; fight or flee. In modern times, humor offers us a third alternative; fight, flee--or laugh." (Robert Orben)

Few situations are more stress-inducing than war. In military conflicts, your life is constantly on the line. While it's hard to imagine the spirit of fun and playfulness emerging in this kind of setting, it is well known that jokes and other spontaneous humor proliferate during war. The humor generally serves to ridicule the enemy, and helps reduce the terrible tensions, fear and anger that accompany combat. Joking momentarily reduces the perceived threat posed by the enemy and helps generate a sense of control in situations where you're really quite powerless.

It is this feeling of taking control--at least over your emotional reactions to the situation--that can also help you in your battle with cancer, or any other illness you may be battling. You're in a kind of war yourself, and may experience the same kinds of tension, fear and anger every day. You need some tools which help you take control over those self-defeating emotions, enabling you to rise to the challenges that learning to live with cancer provides. You don't want to use your sense of humor to deny the battle; rather, you want to use your ability to lighten up on the tough days as an emotional sword that helps slay the negative emotion of the day, substituting an upbeat, positive frame of mind in its place.

We have no idea when increased joking during wars began, but the tendency to do so in recent wars is well documented. In W.W.II, for example, Londoners joked more than usual during Nazi bombing attacks. Czechs did the same throughout their years of Nazi occupation.1 Some world leaders even got into the act. When Winston Churchill was told that Mussolini had decided to enter the war in 1939, he announced to the British people,

"The Italians have announced that they will fight on the Nazis' side. I think it's only fair. We had to put up with them last time."

Some cancer patients use a war metaphor quite literally to help arouse their own immune system in their battle with cancer. Using visualization techniques, they picture their white blood cells or Natural Killer cells as warriors marching through their body attacking and destroying tumor cells. Others, however, find it more effective to use more peaceful forms of visualization. For an excellent example of the use of visualization in battling cancer, see the web site created by one cancer patient at www.blortland.com.

The Jewish people have a great reputation for maintaining their sense of humor in the midst of adversity. During the 1991 war with Iraq, Israeli humor began to surface immediately as a means of coping with the threat. Here are a few samples.

How do you play Israeli roulette?
Give 3 gas masks to 4 people in a sealed room.

Tel Aviv residents have been advised to eat plenty of beans during the alert. It's time to fight gas with gas.

What's the new name of Tel Aviv? Til Aviv.
("Til" is the Hebrew word for missile.)

What's the reverse of Saddam in English?
Madd Ass.

The Israelis were in an awkward position in this war, since they were resisting the temptation to be dragged into it--even though they were being attacked. They felt powerless, since their defense was in the hands of the Americans. This is the same kind of powerlessness many cancer patients feel as they leave their fate in the hands of their doctors, and it is precisely the kind of situation where humor has real power to help you cope.

The Israelis were stuck with a high-stress situation, and simply had to cope with it one way or another. You are also stuck with the reality of your cancer and have to cope with it one way or another. There are many coping tools you'll want to have available, including the support of family and friends. But your sense of humor can also be one of your best friends in the midst of this combat against your cancer. Even if you've not been an active user of humor to cope with life's difficulties in the past, following the guidelines offered in this column over the past year and a half will enable you to start using humor to cope.

Perhaps the best proof of the Israelis' understanding of the value of a playful attitude and humor during the Gulf War came as the entire world watched the citizens of Jerusalem and Tel Aviv go to their sealed rooms in anticipation of chemical warfare attacks. They sometimes spent hours in these rooms, fearing that a Scud missile might fall on them at any moment. People were terrified during these early days of the war, still carrying the residues of memories of gas attacks during the Holocaust.

Here's the amazing thing. During those initial attacks, Israeli radio stations sponsored a nation-wide anagrams game to see who could come up with the greatest number of words from the letters composing the name "Saddam Hussein." Government leaders realized that providing the opportunity to have some fun in a game would help relieve the tension and anxiety that built up while waiting in the closed-off rooms.

Remember, when you take your cancer seriously, but keep your sense of fun and humor in the process, you always have with you a tool to keep damaging negative emotions from taking their toll on you and your body.

[Adapted from P.E. McGhee Health, Healing and the Amuse System: Humor as Survival Training, Kendall-Hunt, 1999. To order call 800-228-0810.]

References

1. Obrdlik, A.J. "Gallows humor"--A sociological phenomenon. American Journal of Sociology, 1942, 47, 709-716.

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