Laughter Is The Best Therapy
Background Of Laughter Therapy
Dr. William F. Fry, a professor of psychology at Stanford University was the first to study laughter. He was the first to suggest laughter as a field of study. He is considered to be the first Gelatologist (expert of gelatology i.e. study of laughter).
It was 1964 when Dr.William F. Fry suggested laughter as the field of study. Although, it was laughter was under study from the ’70s but it was introduced as therapy by Dr. Madan Kataria, who developed laughter yoga and was the first to establish a laughter club in 1995. He is the one who introduced the public to laughter therapy.
What Is Laughter Therapy?
It is a therapy that involves only laughing. The main idea behind this therapy is that laughter is considered and treated as a medicine. It is used for its medicinal effects on the body. In laughter therapy, the patients are kept in a room to laugh at a conscious choice for a setup time. It is said to be effective for patients of different diseases as laughing eases the body and helps patients getting better.
Who Joins In Laughter Clubs?
The patients with different diseases, join in the Laughter clubs. It is not just for people suffering from depression or stress or anxiety. In fact, people suffering from hypertension, insomnia, or pain also join laughter clubs.
Impacts On Patients Health
Laughter therapy clearly seems a powerful medicine. It contracts the facial muscles, increases respiratory rate, increases blood flow, and releases adrenaline in body. It also decreases heart beat rate and also increases the intake of oxygen in tissues. It all results in joy and happiness.
The laughter also diverts the mind of patients from the sufferings of their disease which also becomes a way out of their sufferings. This helps patients have strong willpower.
Impacts On General Health
Besides being used as a medicine for different diseases and illnesses. Laughter is also good for general health. It helps keep our body fresh as we already discussed in the previous heading that how it leads to joy and happiness.
Community Building
Man is a social animal. In the days of illness besides the sufferings of illness, another thing that bothers patients is the loneliness that they feel during days of illness. Joining laughter clubs also helps patients find their peers and to have people with who they can relate and can have their catharsis.
This sense of being a part of a community also helps patients get well soon.
Artificial Laugh Of Laughter Therapy
Normally, people laugh because of something funny. But it is hard to do so without any stimuli. The question arises, that how this artificial can be effective then?
The answer to this is simple, as it is easy to dodge our brains as laughing has the same chemical effect on our brains.
Artificial To Real One
In the sessions of laughter therapy, the participants are said to laugh artificially. After a certain amount of time, this artificial laughter changes into the real one, which occurs because of the same chemical effect on our brain of both artificial and real laughter. Due to the same chemical effect, the artificial one changes into the real one very soon.