It comes from the heart – and it helps the heart: laughter has a positive effect on the entire body. In some hospitals, humor is therefore used specifically.
How many muscles work in a person when you laugh? A lot, as Markus Gosch, chief physician of the Department of Internal Medicine at Nuremberg Hospital, knows. “There are 17 in the facial area alone and another 80 in the entire body,” he explains.
At the same time, giggling and chuckling activate the entire cardiovascular system. “When we laugh, it increases our breathing volume,” says Gosch. This means that a larger amount of air enters our lungs before it is expelled again.
Laughter is like inner jogging
An effect that doesn’t need to be explained to Annika Corleis, who works as a hospital clown. “You know that when you’re really amused by something, you take a deep breath afterwards,” she says. That gets the whole body going. That’s why laughing is also known as inner jogging.
When you laugh, your blood vessels expand and your blood pressure rises briefly, which means the heart is better supplied with oxygen. And your hormone levels also change. “Adrenaline and cortisol levels drop and endorphins and serotonin are released,” says Markus Gosch. Stress hormones are reduced and happiness hormones are released.
Longer life through laughter?
Taking it a step further: Can laughter not only help us in the moment, but even prolong our lives? According to Markus Gosch, it is difficult to answer the question of how regular laughter can affect life expectancy. “We don’t have any evidence-based data on this because it is difficult to conduct controlled studies.”
For example, someone who takes everything with a sense of humor may even be more willing to take risks in everyday life, thereby reducing their life expectancy. “But as far as quality of life is concerned, it is relatively logical that people with humor and laughter find it easier and go through life more easily,” says Gosch.
Laughter as medicine
“We laugh for a thousand different reasons. But when we really laugh heartily, it’s a wonderful medicine,” says Annika Corleis. Especially when you laugh with others – not at them.
Humor can be practiced – and with it laughter. “Humor is also an inner attitude. I can see the glass as half full or half empty and for me that has something to do with positive thinking and therefore with humor,” says Corleis. Those who open themselves up to humor may be more likely to see some stressful situations with a wink.
Humor is used in hospitals to combat stress and anxiety
Since laughter is good for the body, humor is also used specifically to reduce fears and promote recovery, for example in hospital. Just like hospital clown Annika Corleis has been doing for over ten years in the Hamburg Hospital Clowns Association.
“Especially when laughter is binding and comes from a loving context, people’s stress is noticeably reduced,” she reports. The reason for this is that when you laugh, you enter a state of doing nothing, thinking nothing and wanting nothing. “In such moments, there is no past, no plans for the future, just a moment of freedom.”
Markus Gosch also sees the use of humor in the healing process as very positive. “In principle, hospital clowns are well received on the ward,” says Gosch, who is also president of the German Society for Geriatrics (DGG). Such activities lighten up everyday life. “Humor used correctly can greatly reduce stress levels and reduce fears.” Even unpleasant situations can be easily overcome with humor.
If it is used professionally. “We always need to show respect and appreciation for the person we are visiting. It is important that we take our time,” says Annika Corleis. A connection should not be forced, the laughter should ultimately be genuine.
Although artificial laughter does increase lung volume and breathing rate, as Markus Gosch says, there has to be a reason for laughing to feel good all round.
“And when I then feel that we are accepting each other and when there is a brief laugh or smile, then I notice a sense of calm, relaxation, an inner sense of relief,” says Annika Corleis. Bringing this lightness into everyday hospital life is an important goal of the hospital clowns.
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