Coping Humor

1-Aside from improving our moods, laughter can reduce stress, help fight infection, and reduce pain.

"Successively, Selekman explains that fostering therapist-client cooperation is purposive use of self-disclosure, the use of humor, normalizing, demonstrating cultural and gender sensitivity, and therapeutic compliments. Mark Twain once said, 'Against the assault of laughter nothing can stand.' Humor can help generate a relaxed atmosphere, influence the client from his or her concerns, and heal those in pain. Madanes (1984) contend that what makes change possible is the therapist's ability to be confident and to see what is funny or desirable in a dire situation'. Laughter releases hormones from the

Norman Cousins said, “Laughter is a powerful way to tap positive emotions" (Moss 1). Humor is studied by many researchers in sociology, psychology, art, literature, and medicine. When people wonder whether humor aids in areas other than health, a treasure trove of possible benefits to the learning or educational community is opened up. Humor can be used as a tool to promote learning.Research speaks to the many benefits of humor in healing, to its benefits in the classroom or boardroom, from reducing stress of students or employees, to boosting self-esteem and feelings of camaraderie. Additionally, studies show that those who use humor to convey a message are often more favorably perceived. Humor helps deliver the presenter's message to

Based on Cancer Connect.com, a website on Mind-Body Interventions Complementary Alternative Medicine categories has stated that one research has published in Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine, 2003 laughter could be a key factor in helping to boost the immune system which may reduce stress and increase natural killer cell levels, a type of white blood cell that attacks cancer cells.

Patch may have been on to something since science itself claims laughter is good for the human body. For one, decreasing the pain you feel and helping your blood vessels to function better; allowing them to expand which increases blood flow. All of which is good for the heart and brain. (Hara Estroff Marano,

One example of humor as coping mechanism in action is found in the episode of Scrubs “My Long Goodbye.” The episode is founded upon the premise that Laverne Roberts–a beloved RN known for her profound tendencies to gossip–may never awake from a severe coma. In anticipation of this outcome, the staff at Sacred Heart fish for opportunities to give their last adieus before time runs too thin and Laverne passes. Their last words and actions follow closely to the core of gallows humor as they attempt to cope with the unwanted outcome of Laverne’s medical situation. For example, Dr. Cox shaves his head as a comical outward manifestation of his endeavors at coping Additionally, Carla–a close confidant of Laverne–hysterically produces a hallucination of “Laverne” in her remaining hours with

Coping is something that everyone has experienced in their lifetime, whether it be over something significant or insignificant we have all experienced it. In an academic journal published in 2003, authors Gerhard Anderson, and Mimmie Willebrand stated, “Coping has been defined as the process of managing demands (external or internal) that are appraised as taxing or exceeding the resources of the person” (S97). There have often been thought to be two main types of coping strategies, these strategies are problem-focused and emotional-focused coping (Heyman et al. 154). These two strategies differ from each other because, “problem-focused coping is often described as managing the problem, while emotion-focused coping is directed at regulating emotional responses to the problem” (Heyman et al. 154). Anderson and Willebrand have stated that coping is to serve two distinct purposes: to do away with the problem...and to regulate emotional reactions (S97). There are many different reasons that people cope and many different ways that people do it, but if not done right can cause a person emotional turmoil and make them inherit mental illnesses like depression and anxiety. Three ingredients in the conceptualization of coping are as follows, (1) coping need not be successful, but an effort must be made; (2) this effort need not be expressed in actual behavior, but can affect cognition as well; and (3) a cognitive appraisal of the taxing situation is a prerequisite for initiating coping attempts (Anderson and

Now when I think of the question “Does self deprecating humor help individuals cope with the feeling of depression, I still am unsure of the answer. After the research I have conducted and the fieldwork I did I have only been pointed in a direction. What I have taken away from my research and field work is that there is a more than likely possibility that self deprecating humor is an affective coping mechanism. After reading about various studies where the use of humor made a positive impact on those who were suffering from mental health conditions, I became firmer in my own beliefs about self deprecation.

Allows you to count your blessings. Humorous blogs, things and instances are endless. As you constantly make yourself exposed to these stuffs, you will soon be a happy person in no time. No pun intended. This is because there is something scientific happening within where endorphins, the happy hormones are released.

At the beginning of 13th century Humor has been used in the treatment. Surgeons used it to distract patients from pain during the surgery, also in the 20th century, theyapproachedtothe scientific study of the influence of laughter on physical and emotional wellness, The story of Norman Cousins who with Chronic disease and prolonged pain. Cousins has cured himself with the regimen of laughter and vitamins and he cured his cancer. Cousins wrote a book “Anatomy of an Illness (1979)”, which in this book he describes, watched comedy movies and this helped Cousins to cure himself, some scientists claim that cancer can be treated with laughter Therapy since in the most cases the stress is the major cause of cancer and laughter suppresses the stress.

It is often said that laughter is the best medicine. But what if laughter is part of the disease?

Coping is the cognitive and behavioral efforts engaged by a person in facing difficulties from nerve-wracking person-environment transaction (Lazarus, 1993; Ntoumanis, Edmunds, and Duda, 2009). Successful coping can lead an individual to healthier quality of life, stable intellectual condition, and lower rate of ailments (Aldwin, 2000; Ntoumanis, Edmunds, and Duda, 2009). Coping styles can also result in progressive changes (eg., adaptation to illness, caregiving responsibilities, and body image

This essay discusses coping, a complex process exercised by people to suppress, change, or eliminate stress or threat. This essay also discusses copers, that is, people who exhibit certain personality characteristics, known as distress resistant personality patterns, which can significantly influence whether they stay healthy or become ill. Also covered are coping strategies, -strategies people draw upon to solve life’s stressors, some effective, while

Although we do know what laughing is, we don’t know what happens when we laugh.When people laugh a chemical called endorphins are released from your brain, these chemicals are what make people happier. Endorphins can also be called natural pain killers because of how much stress they relieve and reduce anxiety. When endorphins are released the number of cortisol cells go down. Cortisol is a hormone that makes us stressed and gives us unpleasant feeling inside such as depression and anger.(Fix.com) A good laugh will release all those unpleasant emotions, so then you feel better emotionally. Laughter is one way that will increase our creativity and lower our depression rate(Provine, Robert R. Laughter: a scientific investigation).

As humans, laughing and joking is something that comes natural. This is something that we have been doing even before we knew how to walk or talk. As we start to grow up, we all develop personality traits and our humor styles follow. Before taking this course, I have never consider identifying what my humor styles are until now. I took the Humor Style Questionnaire (Martin et al. 2003) and calculated that my top humor style is self-enhancing and closely following is affiliative. Throughout this paper I am going to reflect on my top humor styles with personal examples, and how it relates to my mental health, with several methods I can use to make myself healthier and happier. I will also be considering the other two styles and how then do not relate to my humor style and mental health.