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Humour as Therapy
Winter 2008
Humour Therapy is the use of humour to give relief from physical or emotional pain and stress. It is used as a complementary method in conjunction with other therapies to promote health and better cope with illness. This is well illustrated in the book by Norma Cousins, Anatomy of an Illness.*
There is no scientific evidence that laughter can cure disease but there is evidence that laughter can reduce stress, stimulate the circulatory system as well as the immune system, increase blood oxygenation and stimulate brain as well as respiratory and muscular functioning. So, humour therapy is used to improve quality of life, reduce pain, encourage relaxation and reduce stress.
Spontaneous humour, involving finding humour in everyday situations, has been found to be helpful when dealing with cancer. Some hospitals and treatment centres have set up special rooms loaded with a range of humorous material. People trained in delivering humour enhance the personal touch. In 1999, a survey in the USA found that one in five National Cancer Institute-designated treatment centres offered humour therapy.
Our own much-loved Clown Doctors have been involved in urgent humour delivery to hospitalised patients throughout Australia for the past 11 years.
It is often said, "We are not therapists, but what we do is consistently therapeutic" and we are always asked, "Why don´t you come more often?´
Dr Peter Spitzer, Medical Director
* Bantam ISBN 0-553-343365-3
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