Gelotology

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The Gelotology (from Greek. Γέλως Gelos "laugh", genitive γέλωτος gélōtos ) is the science of the effects of laughter . It deals with the physical and psychological aspects of laughter.

The founder of gelotology is the psychiatrist William F. Fry , who first researched the effects of laughter on physical processes at Stanford University in 1964. Fry also coined the term gelotology. The so-called humor therapies or laughter therapy (English: humor and laughter therapy ) are considered to be therapeutic applications of gelotological findings .

Leading gelotologists alongside Fry are Lee Berk , Paul Ekman , Ilona Papousek , Robert Provine , Frank Rodden, and Barbara Wild .

Preliminary research results

Michael Titze , lecturer at the Academy for Individual Psychology in Zurich and founding chairman of HumorCare Germany, gives a presentation on the preliminary and statistically unrelated research results as follows:

causes

Laughter can mean a variety of things. So it is e.g. B. an expression of aggression when we laugh at someone, giggling together in bed can be an expression of sexual excitement, while the friendly grin in passing has the function of a greeting. After all, we laugh not only when we're happy, but also when we're nervous, scared, or tickled. Behavioral researchers distinguish 18 different types of smiles. But only one variant is the expression of spontaneous, honest pleasure.

The honest smile always begins symmetrically (both corners of the mouth pull upwards at the same time) and is coupled with crow's feet around the eyes. The other, socially weakened variants of the smile always begin slightly asymmetrically. Apparently, humans are not able to consciously switch on the complex, motoric pattern of "smiling" without a humorous trigger.

Effects

  • The change of the world of thoughts through laughter: When you laugh, not only the facial muscles loosen, but also the thought patterns. There is a changed view of things. It is possible for the patient to see his situation, the people involved and himself, from a distance and from a new perspective. This changed perspective enables the person affected to rethink his or her situation - which is perceived as stressful - and to find new approaches to solving the problem.
  • Effect of laughter on the psyche: A cheerful, laughing person encounters his environment differently than a pessimistic person. Due to greater courage and serenity in combination with less nervousness, happy people are more sociable, more popular with others and therefore more socially successful. This means that the laughing person has different social relationships, a very specific interaction with other people and a special interaction. So he reacts differently to his own feelings and needs than a pessimistic person.
  • Effects of laughter on the body: Laughter is also said to be an effective remedy for spring fatigue. Laughter researchers found that a minute of laughter should be as refreshing as 45 minutes of relaxation training. It should also help the man to be more potent. And finally, it promotes creativity, as Kunz reports. Companies send their employees to salmon seminars. "The controlling thinking and acting is dissolved by laughing," says the therapist. The ordered thoughts are interrupted.

Applications

  • Laughing for Pain: Studies in gelotology have shown that pain sufferers experience relief after just a few minutes of laughter that can last for hours. Laughing also improves blood circulation and thus prevents cardiovascular diseases . There is an example in Norman Cousins' autobiography .
  • Laughter and the immune system: the body's own hormone-like substance gamma interferon activates and coordinates the production of several body's own antibodies, while so-called killer T cells destroy already infected cells. The American immunologist Lee S. Berk has found that the blood levels of gamma interferon, killer cells and antibodies increase in people who are laughing . Even a few days after watching a funny movie, for example, the values ​​are much higher than those of people who have had no reason to laugh in the last few days.
  • Laughing against stress: "Laughter is the greatest enemy of stress," says humor therapist Erika Kunz. Instead of stress hormones , there is a certain probability that happiness hormones , so-called endorphins, are released when you laugh . Even under the greatest workloads, tension would be released in this way. If you pull up the corners of your mouth, you automatically straighten up and avoid a sad attitude, she explains. It should even help against constipation, headaches and insomnia, says Kunz.
  • Laughter in therapy: More and more psychologists and medical professionals are concerned with the therapeutic use of humor and laughter in hospitals and during therapy. Above all in psychiatry and psychology one hopes to achieve better results through the targeted use of humor in therapy. From a psychosomatic point of view, the health-promoting effect of laughing consists mainly of overcoming adversity. Laughter can be the beginning of a path out of an apparently insurmountable situation, because a main trigger of laughter is the sudden recognition of connections. If the connections of a stressful situation are recognized, the inner tension is released in the form of laughter.
  • Red noses, clinic clowns: the research results of gelotology have led to the establishment of the so-called “ clown doctors ”. These are jokers who ask the doctors about the condition of the patients and - after consultation with the doctors - cheer them up and listen to their problems and worries. The aim of the clowns is to loosen up the often dreary clinic atmosphere. You want to make patients laugh and thus contribute to their faster recovery. There are now clown doctors all over the world, especially in the USA and Europe.

Scientific study situation

There are very few studies dealing with the subject, and the possible positive short-term or long-term effects of humor and laughter therapy are often overestimated by both hospital staff and patients; a conclusive assessment is currently not possible. A Swiss study on the use of humor therapy in people with Alzheimer's disease and depression could not demonstrate any statistically significant effects.

swell

  1. ↑ Michael Titze : Therapeutic Humor. Basics and Applications. Fischer, Frankfurt / Main 1998, ISBN 3-596-12650-9 . (4th edition 2003; co-author: Christof T. Eschenröder).
  2. ↑ cf. also: laughter. Interview with Michael Titze, broadcast Buchbar, SDR 1 , on November 27, 1995 on Michael Titze's website.
  3. ↑ Why laughter is healthy. In: Wissenschaft.de. March 8, 2005, accessed September 8, 2019 .
  4. ↑ More On The Humor-Health Connection: New Study Finds Anticipating A Laugh Reduces Stress Hormone ( Memento of July 8, 2013 in the Internet Archive ). American Psychological Society press release , 2008.
  5. ↑ E. Höfner, HU Schachtner: That would be laughable! Humor and provocation in therapy. Rowohlt, Reinbek 1995.
  6. ↑ www.die-clowndoorien.de
  7. ^ J. Mallett: Use of humor and laughter in patient care. In: Br J Nurs. 1993 Feb pp. 11-24; 2 (3), pp. 172-175.
  8. ↑ Richard T. Penson, Rosamund A. Partridge, Pandora Rudd, Michael V. Seiden, Jill E. Nelson, Bruce A. Chabner, Thomas J. Lynch, Jr .: Laughter: The Best Medicine? In: Oncologist . Vol. 10, No. 8, September 2005, pp. 651-660.
  9. ↑ Jane Malletta: Humor and laughter therapy, Complementary Therapies in Nursing and Midwifery. Volume 1, Issue 3, June 1995, pp. 73-76.
  10. ↑ M. Walter, B. Hänni, M. Haug, I. Amrhein, E. Krebs-Roubicek, F. Müller-Spahn , E. Savaskan: Humour therapy in patients with late-life depression or Alzheimer's disease: a pilot study. In: Int J Geriatr Psychiatry. 2007 Jan; 22 (1), pp. 77-83. PMID 16977676

literature

  • Henri Rubinstein: The healing power of laughter. ("Psychosomatique du rire"). Hallwag, Bern 1985, ISBN 3-444-10313-1 .

Web links

Wiktionary: Gelotologie  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations