Last month we looked at the power of humor in coping with stress. We continue with this discussion this month.

Doctor of Public Health Less S. Berg, says, "It's time we in the health-care area realize how the individual can help him or herself with humor." Dr. Berk is affiliated with the Schools of Medicine and Public Health at Loma Linda University in California.

Berg has found that after laughter, our immune functioning is impacted in several key ways:
 

 Levels of cortisol drop significantly. Cortisol suppresses the immune system.

 Levels of immunoglobulins increase significantly. Immunoglobulin is part of the infection-fighting mechanism of our immune system.

 Activity of natural killer cells increase significantly. Killer cells seek out and destroy abnormal cells, such as cancer cells.

 Levels of plasma cytokine gamma interferon more than double. Interferon enhances immune-system functioning.

And Berg says that these levels remain high or low for up to 24 hours after a good laugh. He concludes: "Is laughter good for you? You're damn right it is. Laughter is hazardous to your illness."

But laughter not work the same for men as for women. Dr. Herbert Lefcourt, at the University of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada, found that the way that men and women process humor be different and explain why women can go through tense situations without being as subject to heart attacks or strokes.

Lefcourt says that, according to his research, when women are in a situation that is uncomfortable, they laugh at themselves, which restores social closeness. Men tend to use humor that attacks others, which helps to "maintain their position in the social hierarchy."

Lefcourt provides an example. If a woman is cutting her food and a piece of it slips out from under her knife and ends up in the lap of her mother-in-law, the woman is likely to make some joke about her clumsiness. The man is more likely to blame the meat, perhaps making a joke about fighting meat in every part of his life. Lefcourt concludes, "Men are in this trap of not being able to use self-directed humor as a coping strategy."

Here's the Stress Manager's Corner's best advice:
 

 Look for the humorous in situations, especially when you feel stressed or tense. Write down what is bothering you—from a funny point of view

 When you feel overwhelmed, go stand next to the office jokester and allow yourself to be entertained.

 Give yourself permission to laugh out loud. You have to train yourself by first forcing the laugh, but eventually you'll find it is very easy to laugh—or at least chuckle. And if you can't manage a chuckle, you can at least smile.

 Be careful with the kind of humor you use. According to Lefcourt, it might be better to avoid attacking humor. Put down humor can only isolate you more socially, and apparently it doesn't help your cardiovascular system much either.

 Gather a collection of funny tapes or movies, and use them on your time off to aerobically recharge your immune system.

 Don't attack the person who is always laughing or trying to see the humorous in difficult situations. They be "hazardous to your illness."

 

Janelle M. Barlow, Ph.D. 
Author of The Stress Manager

Previous "Stress Management Corner" pages:
 

#1	New Approaches to Job Stress
#2	If Exercise Works as a Cure...
#3	Headaches! The Most Common Complaint
#4	Eight Glasses a Day!
#5	How Well Does Zinc Work?
#6	Intense Emotions Can Kill You
#7	Sleep!
#8	Job Stress and Compensation Claims
#9	Job-Related Stress
#10	Losing Weight - It's Not Easy!
#11	Food Supplements - How Necessary?
#12	Stress and Change
#13	Depression Among the Elderly
#14	Spirituality and Your Health
#15	It's Cold Season Again!
#16	A Positive Attitude is Important
#17	Power of Laughter

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