The Big Idea
So what is the best medicine – really?
According to Norman Wisdom (British comedian extraordinaire from yesteryear) “it’s laughter – unless you are asthmatic, in which case it’s Ventolin”.
This was the introduction Stephanie Davies’, author of the book Laughology, had to the great Wisdom back in her formative teenage years. Laughology, Davies tells us, is a way of seeing the World as well as an approach to dealing with difficulties in life that she has so successfully taken to from comedy clubs to corporate board rooms to hospital wards. It is a philosophy and approach that is less about hiding difficult times and pain, or even accepting it, but rather using humour as a way of processing and contextualising emotional experiences. Many of the other comedy greats have found their calling through, and perhaps even because of, the pain that they have been through – notable examples include Billy Connelly, Robin Williams and Lenny Henry.
Laughology ultimately is about learning to laugh more and to find more opportunity to do so, including and possibly most importantly, at ourselves. Laughter is one of the few universal communication tools that is instinctive (innate) to most of us – the others being smiling and crying. These cross cultures and borders in their universalism. That said, what we find funny is not so consistent. Most of us have a different sense of humour. So what’s going on here and how can laughter really be a top #Tip and what makes this different from #Tip10 Keep Smiling? Well as Dulcie and Dr Iain found out talking with top professional comedian, broadcaster and trainer Joe Rowntree – a lot!
Got it…What’s the Science
Ok so first off – smiling and laughing are obviously related but here’s the thing, laughter essentially has more of the benefits – it’s like more intense smiling. Brain studies have shown that ‘aurofacial mirror regions’ (mirror neurones), associated with auditory processing and motor activities to do with communication, are activated both in smiling but are even more when we laugh.
Laughing and laughter is actually both really simple and really complex. Laughter is a sound we tend to make on the out-breath and we humans can make some very funny sounds when we do (which can make us laugh even more!). Laughing is a social contagion (not infection) like yawning and blinking. When we genuinely laugh (rather than posed to fake or forced laugh) it is universally recognised by others despite the cultural background. In other words it seems part of our basic human communication toolkit that we are born with (it is innate). We also tend to laugh more readily with those we know and trust, so there is suggestion here that laughter is a sign of healthy friendship and companionships. As one improves so does the other – they are interlinked.
Prof Sophie Scott (Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, UCL) suggests that laughing is a prelude in animals to play and is a more basic form of communication that can hijack our breathing and ability to speak – with hilarious and sometimes painful consequences. Laughter is, when authentic, involuntary (without our control). Who hasn’t had that time when you couldn’t stop laughing even though you are in a serious situation, about to wet yourself or struggle to breathe!? Laughter of course can also mean we are nervousness, unsure or awkward in a situation – laughter can break this tension and make others more amenable to us.
Hearing and being with others laugh means we are 30 times more likely to laugh where the brain is ‘primed’ (priming is a term used in psychology when a stimulus gains a greater response because of a prior event) to laugh more easily if it hears laughter beforehand. This is perhaps why we like to go to hear others laugh at the same kind of jokes together in comedy clubs or theatres – such as going to watch and listen to our fab guest Joe Rowntree. What we find funny and how we find it funny is complex and involves facial expressions, body language, voice (tone, pitch, accents and pace etc), types of words as well as story telling (context and predictions based on previous experience). The things and people we laugh at tend to be different from other and this means that laughter can be a way in which we can bond with others that see the world like ourselves. We note here then the power of laughter to help you find your flock (#Tip 34) and the positives this can then bring you.
This means that laughing has evolved from a basic expression of joy and enjoyment to be a complex form of our communication and is most often used in conversation by the person talking most. The evolutionary origins and similarities of laughing in other animals was one of Charles Darwin’s research interests – so presumably he thought it was more than just funny… (We wonder what this don of evolutionary biology would make of social media memes of laughing animals).
So, so far we are finding out that laughter seems to be to do with mirror neurones, advanced communication and is evolutionary important – leading in part to our success as an animal and to those that share something similar in body language. It seems other animals do in fact ‘laugh’ (in their own way – homologues) when they are tickled…
Now before you say you don’t laugh much, research suggests that we laugh a lot more than we think we do. Not only that, but as the use of laughter can be ambiguous, we get more savvy in working out what is meant by different types of laughter as we get older. As animals we tend to only really gain mastery over what laughter is and is used for into our 30s and 40s – genuine laughter is earlier in our 20s. Interestingly our brains can more stimulated when listening to laughter that is forced or out of context – areas in the brain associated with theory of mind, the medial prefrontal brain regions, tend to also get activated here in order to work out what is really going on with this kind of laughter. This can of course also involve contextualising the laughter. So again there is more going on here when we say, laugh more….
Laughing can also release tension in social situations, providing a release valve and ways out to social awkwardness and even conflict. Laughing appropriately, even in difficult conversations, means that we can help others to move on more quickly, without resentment, more easily. So the more we prone to laughing (practice the habit and strengthen the neural wiring of laughing), by laughing more day to day, the more socially capable we can be. And although there maybe many reasons why we laugh, there is undoubtedly shared wiring that means that laughing to our favourite comedies or comedians also means we are more competent in using humour and laughing in helping our relationships.
So laughter and laughing is something that has a lot more going on than we first think. There is many reasons why we might laugh. What this does mean though is that when we laugh there are a number of benefits that we are also getting immediately.
The first is biochemical. The process of laughing releases neurotransmitters that are uplifting in mood and sense of wellbeing including dopamine and serotonin. Studies have shown that those that laugh more, tend to have a more optimistic view on life too – even if this is laughter stimulated by tickling! Those that laugh more are also less likely to catastrophise a situation and be able to see the opportunity from a difficult situation (#Tip 23 Time to Reframe). Laughter also leads to the release of those natural, self made pain relieving neurochemicals endorphins – that imbue us with a sense of wellbeing. A good hearty laugh can also be an all over body workout, involving lots of muscles and the cardiovascular system, and can lead to relaxation of muscles for up to 45 minutes afterwards. One study in Norway also suggests that those that have a strong sense of humour (ability to laugh and find laughter) tend to outlive those that don’t laugh as much. This effect is apparently most notable in those battling cancer. There is also evidence that laughing actually boosts your immune system. So if you have laughter lines, you might be more likely to outlive those without them… May be we should celebrate some wrinkles after all?!
Watch our #Tip41 on the Instagram Live Recording….
Dulcie and Dr Iain with special guest professional comedian Joe Rowntree!
Links
Laughology – book by Stephanie Davies
The Human Voice (The Infinite Money Cage) – BBC Radio 4 recording
Parting Shots
You can use laughter to help you prepare to face the day. Yes it can be a bit of a sticking plaster – but sticking plasters are useful. A colleague who is in constant pain following a nasty motorcycle accident and paralysis from strokes uses radio comedies to help with his pain and to be able to face the night as well as day. What comedies could you listen to?
Laughter yoga is becoming more of a thing too! Dr Patch Adams famously used comedy in therapy too.
In closing we should offer a couple of health warnings and a disclaimer…
Firstly, repetitive inappropriate laughter can be a sign of dementia or brain damage. If you notice this in someone it might be worth suggesting that they see a doctor.
Second, we need you to be aware that laughing more might mean you attract some people and rappel others – but who do you really want to be with? And how would you prefer to see the world anyway?
The disclaimer is: we are not responsible for any loss of control (including bladder) that may come from practising this #Tip!
Do watch this space as we follow Joe Rowntree into the pants season.
So in closing, this yet another #Tip that is free and could lead to so much more, especially if you habit stack it with other #Tips. Who knows, you could become a comic like Joe, a doctor and therapist like Dr Patch Adams (the Robin Williams film is of a real person) or a team coach like Stephanie Davies.
Tales from our Test Partners
Watch this space…
Related Top Tips
#Tip40 – Gaze
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