Medicinal Mirth

"A merry heart doeth good like a medicine, but a broken spirit drieth the bones." --Proverbs

Solomon-or whoever wrote Proverbs-was clearly onto something. In the past decade or two, scientists have gathered evidence of laughter's perks. "Laughter is a physical response to humor," says Steven Sultanoff, professor of psychology in the Graduate School of Education and Psychology at Pepperdine University in Malibu, California, and an authority on the therapeutic uses of humor. says Sultanoff. "Muscles contract, blood flow increases, breathing rate speeds up and circulation increases." For most people, the alternating contraction and relaxation of muscles feels good. This is, in fact, a standard tense-release technique used in many forms of relaxation therapy--minus the laughter. Laughter even increases pain tolerance. Sultanoff says he listens to tapes of comedian Robin Williams on his way to the dentist. But is laughter just a feel-good bandage for occasional tough times?

The strongest evidence for the health benefits of laughter comes from psychiatric research. Evidence has been accumulating for years that people who suffer with chronic anxiety, anger and depression have multiple physiological problems. Anger and depression have been linked to heart disease, while gastrointestinal troubles are said to result from uncontrolled anxiety. The American Heart Association (AHA) warns people who've had heart attacks that depression can slow their recovery and increase their risk of future cardiac calamities. What does this have to do with laughter? "We know that in the human condition, you cannot experience emotional distress and emotional uplift at the same time," Sultanoff says. "When you're experiencing mirth, you are not experiencing depression, anxiety or anger." Mirth reduces the negative impact of anger and other distressing emotions.

ThirdAge has partnered with Ode, the magazine for intelligent optimists, to offer ThirdAgers a free issue of Ode magazine. This article first appeared in Ode.