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Humor Therapy (Comic Relief)

• Chapter 12

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• A smile is the shortest distance between two
  people.
• Victor Borge

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An Historical Perspective of Humor Therapy

• Oldest records of comic relief date back to
  ancient Greece
• Bible passage in proverbs is often cited as well
• A merry heart does good like medicine.
• Medieval kings and queens had court jesters
• In the Victorian age laughing was thought to be
  sinful
• The roaring 20s seemed to have changed all that

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Norman Cousins and Humor Therapy

• Anatomy of an illness
• Is there a correlation between stress--
  particularly negative perceptions and
  emotions--and disease?
• The premise of humor therapy is that if negative
  thoughts can result in illness and disease,
  positive thoughts should enhance health.

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Types of Humor

• Parody
• Satire
• Slapstick comedy
• Absurd/nonsense
• Double entendre

• Black humor
• Irony
• Sarcasm
• Dry humor, quick wit and puns
• Bathroom humor

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Types of Senses of Humor

• a. Conventional Humor
• b. Life of the Party Humor
• c. Creative Sense of Humor
• d. Good Sport Sense of Humor

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Theories of Humor

• (Reasons why we laugh and smile)
• Superiority Theory (Plato) - Emotionally based
• Release/Relief Theory (Freud) - Physically based
• Incongruity Theory - Mentally based
• Divinity Theory - Spiritually based

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Psychology of Humor

• Humor is a wonderful defense mechanism
• Humor helps diffuse anger and fear
• Humor can also serve as a distraction from stress
• Only sarcasm is considered negative (it produces
  stress)
• Humor is used in many settings, from hospitals to
  recovery programs

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Physiology of Humor

• Relaxes muscles
• Reduces blood pressure
• Increases ventilation
• Massages internal organs
• Promotes secretion of neuropeptides

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Physiology of Humor

• Research investigating the psycho-neuroimmunologic
  al effects of laughter have found that there is a
  strong relationship between good health and good
  humor. In essence, laughter helps restore
  physiological homeostasis.

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Steps to Initiate Humor Therapy

• Learn not to take yourself too seriously.
• Find one humorous thing a day.
• Work to improve your imagination and creativity.
• Start a joke/cartoon of the week swap with a
  friend
• Learn to hyperexaggerate when telling a story.

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Steps to Initiate Humor Therapy (continued)

• Build a humor library.
• Find a host of varied humor venues.
• Access your humor network.
• Improve your self-esteem daily.

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Best Application of Comic Relief

• Humor is a great way to relieve stress
• Humor serves to balance ones emotions
• Best to achieve the quota of 15 laughs per day
• List some additional ways you can hit this quota