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It
is the height of irony that Robin Williams (left) played Dr.
Patch
Adams (right) in the 1998 film of the same name.
Adams
used humor to heal and promote health, while new
research
is showing that humorists are susceptible to more
harm
when they improve our health with laughter.
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But a long-lived comedian is more of an exception than a
rule. John Belushi, Gilda Radner, John Candy, Lenny Bruce, Patrice O’Neal,
Madeline Kahn, Chris Farley, Bernie Mac, and Andy Kaufman all died in their
30’s or 40’s. This is sad to be sure, but it's even sadder when you consider that
comedians hasten their own deaths while improving our health.
“Laughter is the best medicine.” The saying has been around
for years – and it has merit. Laughter reduces cortisol production, which is a
stress hormone that taxes our health and makes us gain weight. Laughter may improve our immune system function as well, and this
fights off or prevents infection. A 2009 review showed that several studies
indicated that laughter improved immune cell function (natural killer cells)
and increased antibody levels (sIGA).
Laughter improves respiratory function and cardiac function
because it increases respiratory rate and requires increased blood flow. These
were reviewed in a very funny Christmas article in the British Medical Journal in 2013.
Laughter works on our brain too. Besides relieving stress,
laughter triggers the release of endorphins that help our mood – and a good
mood is a definite benefit to our health. Laughter also works on the neural
pathways of resilience, so that we bounce back from disappointment better.
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Gelototherapy
is a pseudoscientific term for laughter therapy.
I
say pseudo- because I can’t really find anyone who uses the
term. But other health ideas have sprung
up around laughter
as
well. Laughter yoga (hasyayoga) is done in groups with eye
contact.
It may start out as forced laughter, which is said to
have
much less effect on health, but forced laughter turns
readily
to spontaneous or mirthful, laughter, which lengthens
our
life so we can go out to more yoga classes.
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There have been few if any studies that link laughter to
extended longevity; however, a 2013 study of centenarians showed that they do
tend to laugh more, as part of the PATL (positive attitude toward life).
Linking laughter directly to longevity would be very difficult in the
scientific sense, but the above stated health benefits can’t be hurting us, can
they?
Apparently all this benefit comes at a cost to those giving
us their gift. Comedians don’t just seem
to die young, they are dying younger.
Several studies have looked longitudinally at the health problems and
obituaries of people in different professions, and that funny kids have more
health problems later in life.
As part of a study of high intelligence individuals called the
Terman Life Cycle Study (1922-1991), those kids rated by their parents as
having a good sense of humor tended to have more health problems as adults,
including alcoholism and lung disease from smoking.
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People
say that fat guys are funny. I’m fat and my kids say I’m
not
that funny. But the question remains, do fat boys become
funny
to survive, or does being funny make guys fat? Curly
Howard
of the Three Stooges got fat after a bout of depression
at
the end of his first marriage. He had a series of strokes late in
his
movie career and died at the age of 49.
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A recent review of deaths by profession shows that
performers of all sorts, including comedians, tend to die younger – health
problems most certainly playing a role in their earlier demise. Robin Williams
had suffered for years with substance abuse problems, bouts of severe
depression, and heart disease. Comedians tend to have more depression than the general population
and the suicide rate of performers, including comedians, is twice that of the
general population.
But which comes first, do depressives become comedians
because their altered thinking lends itself to looking at the world differently,
or perhaps it is a way of self-medicating (as is drug abuse they tend to fall into) and fitting in with the world. Or,
does comedy and the rejection that often comes with it, lead to more bouts of
depression? Whichever it is, the physical and mental health problems of
humorists seem all the more tragic when it is considered how much good these
people do for us.
Contributed by Mark E. Lasbury, MS, MSEd, PhD
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