Humor and Laughter may Influence Health. I. History and Background
Mary Payne Bennett1 and Cecile A. Lengacher2
1Indiana State University, College of Nursing, IN, USA
2University of South Florida, College of Nursing, FL, USA
Received 30 March 2005
Hassed C
Department of Community Medicine and General Practice, Monash University, Victoria.
Australian Family Physician [2001, 30(1):25-28]
BACKGROUND: The beneficial effect of humour on health has long been recognised anecdotally and intuitively but studying and quantifying that effect is difficult. 'Studying humour is like dissecting a frog--you may know a lot but you end up with a dead frog.' (Mark Twain)
OBJECTIVE: To describe some of the psychological and physiological effects of laughter and the health benefits of humour.
Chiang-Hanisko, L., Adamle, K., & Chiang, L.C. (2009). Cultural differences in therapeutic humor in nursing education. Journal of Nursing Research, 17(1), 52-60.
Adamle, K., Ludwick, R., Zeller, R., & Winchell, J. (2009). Oncology nurses' responses to patient-initiated humor (PIH). Cancer Nursing: An International Journal for Cancer Care. 31(6), E1.
