The Therapeutic Nature of Laughter
Nancy Singleton
People generally come to your clinic because they are in pain. They are frustrated, hurting, and need to know that someone has the tools to help assuage their pain. They need to be understood and taken seriously. Most importantly, they also want to be presented with a treatment plan and hope for recovery.
In addition to chiropractic treatments, your office probably offers some other therapeutic modalities, though, such as ultrasound, traction, massage, or nutrition. In our clinic, we found that laughter also had a therapeutic effect on patients, and I want to encourage you to find ways to incorporate genuine laughter into some part of your day with patients.
Too often, reception areas are filled with magazines and other publications that gossip and muse about the lives and bodies of celebrities. There are also often publications about food your patients probably shouldn’t be eating. These types of literature aren’t helpful or uplifting. They are full of “junk” in content and pictures, and frankly have little to offer by way of healing. For your waiting area, consider placing your office’s newsletters, information about treatments and their benefits, or even silly literature with comics, jokes, ad-libs, or funny pictures.
While health care is a serious business, from time to time it is just fun to get everyone laughing. We are not suggesting that you don’t take things seriously, but there is, in fact, something very healthy and therapeutic about laugher. After all, we all have the gift of laughter in our lives and it is a natural medicine. When we are laughing, we feel happy; our spirits are lifted and it is contagious. When we are laughing, we are empowered and alive. Laughter brings people together and can lift the spirits of everyone in a room.
Although conclusive scientific data on the healing effects of laughter is few and far between, many observant studies have concluded that there is something mysteriously healing about laughter. Nearly all studies on the subject produce positive results, and really, there are no negative side effects or unwelcome consequences to laughing. So, since “laughter therapy” is innocent until proven guilty, we believe it is a perfectly appropriate modality to incorporate into daily practices.
u Nearly all studies on the subject produce positive results, and really, there are no negative side effects or unwelcome consequences to laughing. ”
Let us consider how laughter might affect stress hormones such as epinephrine, norepinephrine, and cortisol. It has been theorized that laughing can lower the levels of these hormones, leading to improved immune function. If this is the case, healthier outcomes are a sure result and the mechanism by which we achieve these results is free.
Consider these additional benefits to laughter that some studies have shown:
• Enhanced oxygen intake
• Improved memory and alertness
• Blood flow stimulation (to the heart and lungs)
• Helps to balance blood pressure
• Helps to relax muscles
• Focuses the mind away from pain
• Releases endorphins (natural painkillers)
• Improves attitudes
• Reduces tension and stress
• Helps us relax
• Strengthens social bonds and improves relationships
• Stronger sense of well-being
• Improves sleep
• Provides an overall better quality of life
Many notable physicians and scientists have touted the power of laughter. Francisco Contreras, MD, wrote in his book, The Coming Cancer Cure, “Positive emotions invoked by humor have healing effects.” Additionally, in Norman Cousin’s book, Anatomy of an Illness, he says, “I made the joyous discovery that ten minutes of genuine belly laughter had an anesthetic effect and would give me at least two hours of pain-free sleep. When the pain-killing effect of the laughter wore off, we would switch on the motion picture projector again and not infrequently, it would lead to another pain-free interval.”
In our own clinic, my husband, the treating chiropractor, is bald, but he kept a wig in his office and would sometimes put it on before entering the room of a patient who needed a good laugh. Because patients knew he was bald, they would roll at the ridiculous new look, instantly feel more at ease, and let a little more hope into their lives.
He would also sporadically do other funny things, such as make his tie too short or put his shoes on the wrong feet to cheer up a patient who was feeling down. It’s amazing how little things like that really turn the day around for someone who felt discouraged.
Another remarkable result of laughter is that it eases ill feelings. You most likely make mistakes in your practice sometimes. If you have ever had a patient who has seen one of your mistakes and is upset, laughter can be just the thing to ease the tension. It’s just about impossible to be upset with someone when you laugh together.
In conclusion, consider how often you or your patients laugh in your clinic; it could make a huge difference in the way you practice, the way your patients feel when they leave, and your referrals may even increase! So, as celebrated laughter researcher Robert Provine noted in the documentary Laugh Out Loud, “Until the scientists work out all the details, get in all the laughter that you can!”
fPBP1 1 Nancy Singleton is a 1989 graduate of the Los / C fe. Angeles College of Chiropractic Assistants. She has been consulting and helping doctors grow their practices for more than 25 years. She and her husband, Dr. Todd Singleton, teach chiroprac tors how to implement multiple cash systems into their existing practices. For more information, call 801-917-0900, e-mail [email protected], or visit www.ArticlesByNancySingleton.com.
