Humor: An Antidote for Stress is an article written for nurses (but helpful to all) by Patty Wooten, RN BSN. Wooten calls upon medical research to support the theory that laughter may reduce stress. Detailing laughter's effects on the body, Wooten concludes that "positive emotions can create neurochemical changes that will buffer the immunosuppressive effects of stress." Additionally, some initial studies have shown that laughter actually may increase our sense of control, a benefit to people with anxiety disorders who often feel so out of control. Wooten's main premise is that laughter may help reduce the high stress of those in the nursing field; those benefits may be transferred easily to others in need of stress reduction.
Whether or not your treatment providers are using humor in your treatment, you may begin to incorporate humor and laughter into your daily life. If you haven't found yourself laughing in a while, begin at the beginning. Think back to when you did laugh more, and try to remember what you made you laugh. The most basic of humor tools are probably television and movies. Rent some old favorites or watch some syndicated re-runs to get those laughing muscles back in shape.
If you feel up to it, you might take a look at some mental health humor available online. 30 Ways to Handle Stress invites you to take an unconventional approach to stress relief. If you're concerned about whether or not you're normal, Pendulum Resources can help with Are You Normal??? and What is Normal? Pendulum Resources can also help you determine whether or not you have any Cyber Disorders, such as "Lurking Disorder" or "Chronic Posting Disorder." Would you rather hang on to all your stress than work to diminish it? The De Anza Health Office offers some helpful advice in How to Stay Stressed.
If you're looking for more general humor, take a peek at About's Comedy sites. Mike Durrett's Humor site helps you find humor of all kinds on the Internet and off. A particularly interesting feature on Mike's site is GuideHumor, a collection of links to other About humor pages featuring jokes related to specific topics.
Start with a smile, add a little chuckle, and soon you'll be laughing the stress away. It's OK to laugh. Be good to yourself.
