Laughter In Medieval Medicine

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

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.

     Laughter relates a lot to One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. It is a representation of the ability to decide for your self. Billy Bibbit was always being bossed around by the nurse and his mother. Once he knew he could laugh and stop listening to what everyone demanded of him he started to loosen up. . "It's natural to all human beings to laugh. It's society which restricts us and tells us that we must settle down.'' (Murphy) The society that Billy was in, was putting to much pressure on him to settle down when he was just trying to be himself. That was the part that was making him crazy. The pressure the ward and his mother put on him to be restricted led him to his suicide. When Billy started laughing he actually started to seem normal. He actually slept with a prostitute, knowing that if his mother found out she would never see him the same way. ."It affects our psychoneuro-immunology.'' (Murphy) “In other words, medical research has established a link between emotions, the nervous system and endocrine

Laughter is essential to our very existence. It can get you out of a bad day or out of a sad moment. Syvia is a primary example. Syvia’s family is in a situation where her mother has to give her portion of her meal to Syvia. Her Dad explains that “From pain your mother gave you life, through pain she continues to give (Doc A).”

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,

The holocaust was a scary and rough time for Jews. They were taken from their homes and forced to work in concentration camps until they died. Things were pretty hard on them yet they still found ways to shed a little bit of light on their situation. That leads me to this question; how did spirit triumph during the holocaust? Love, laughter and nature were all ways the human spirit triumphed during this sad time in history.

Laughing in itself is therapeutic. People laugh for many different reasons. Some people even laugh when something horrible occurs, it is a method of escape from what horrors or mishaps are going on around you. "Many psychotherapists find humor a valuable tool in helping their patients to solve their social and emotional problems." (G. Samuel) Chief bromden was

Did you know there was a time where infectious diseases like the common cold could kill you and your family? This was the elizabethan era probably the last time where sickness became the “grimm reaper” before modern medical advancements. With infectious diseases spreading and killing so many people doctors became desperate. Because these doctors knew very little about medicine, they were completely willing to try experimental treatments on their patients (Alchin). Sadly just about anybody with an infectious disease died. All the knowledge these doctors knew were based on: Humours, what brain function each internal organ controls, and how to protect themselves from it.

People always say that laughter alleviates tension. If this is the case, then it makes sense that the use of humor when discussing uncomfortable topics can make the conversation easier and more light-hearted. One of Mark Twain’s most frequently used devices in works such as “Advice to Youth”, “To the Person Sitting in Darkness”, and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is satire, which can provide society a method to bond over uncomfortable topics, and facilitate the ability to sustain that bond through an easier way to create discussion.

Melancholy was affiliated with black bile, earth and a cold, dry environment. If a patient was thought to have an excess of a particular humor, measures would be taken to lessen that value, such as blood-letting (sanguine), dietary changes and bodily purging. In Tudor England, the knowledge of humors and their use in medicine become widely acknowledged and accepted, and these humors impact on a person’s temperament also became used. Stemming from beliefs in ancient Greece, the people in that era believed that one’s general mood and state of mind was affected by the overall balance of humors in their body, if a particular humor dominated then the personality it personified would become present in the individual. Elizabethan people believed that the humors gave off vapors that traveled to the brain, causing a certain behavioral pattern to surface “The "humours" gave off vapors which ascended to the brain; an individual's personal characteristics (physical, mental, moral) were explained by his or her "temperament," or the state of that person's "humours".” Thus, a person with balanced humors had a balanced disposition. Too much sanguine in a person led to an optimistic and generally positive attitude, albeit an irresponsible one. Choler made one wrathful and ambitious. A phlegmatic person had characteristics that were slothful and cowardly. Finally, a person overwhelmed by melancholy was introspective, gluttonous, and

Hippocrates of Cos, a physician in ancient Greece, is considered to be the father of medicine due to his many contributions to the field in his life. Through research and different experiments he was able to conclude many different principles, including on of the most important: the four humors. By observing reactions to different illnesses, sometimes leading the patient to die, he was able to develop the theory. His theory of the four humors was that the human body was filled with four basic substances, or humors, that when in balance indicate the person is healthy. If there was too little or too much of one of the four, a disease or disability would result. The four humors of Hippocratic medicine are black bile, yellow bile, blood, and phlegm. Before the humors were introduced, many people believed that the source of illness was punishment from the Gods. It wasn’t until after Hippocrates’ introduction to medicine that the field stepped away from religion and into science.

Van Wormer, K., and M. Boes. "HUMOR IN THE EMERGENCY ROOM: A Social Work Perspective." Welcome! Web. 23 Sept. 2011. .

At the time, this event seemed rather insignificant and did not merit remembrance. However, its catastrophic effects on my attitude that evening may have helped to mold me into the person I have become. I learned that suffering through such an event, as childish as it was, is quite necessary in any life. Such pains are part of an interminable cycle and only generate balance in one's life (p. 62, 'Life as Suffering'). Despite my horrid time spent that evening, the laughter brought since the incident is a worthy tradeoff. Laughter is an all too necessary function of life, just as suffering and the wide range of other emotions. "Some thinkers would emphasize the importance of sophistication in humor, but others would say that laughter itself is what is important." Whatever the case may be, laughter is an important ingredient in life, and must not be taken for granted nor ignored.

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.