Laughter is the best medicine

[Matt2584]

And it's true. The saying was not just created out of thin air.

With my local Headway, I am attending a cognitive thinking course at the moment and I am learning quite a bit about the brain and experiences from others.

The lady running the group, and our current manager, said that she read about a guy who had/has a brain injury and he cured it/aided his injury, don't know all the facts, by making himself laugh a lot. Watching funny things and so on.

When you laugh, the brain creates a certain chemical. So obviously, the more you laugh, the more chemical which helped with his recovery.

Again, nature shows how powerful it can be :).

[angelite]

Hiya Matt,

I have heard of its health benefits before : )

I found this ; livestrong.com/article/1703...

So next time my son finds me laughing like a loon at something on TV/ youtube and rolls his eyes I have an excuse - I am rehabilitating my brain : ))

[randomphantoms]

That must be why the Braille group is so good for me. How we ever learn anything between the uproarious laughter and tears.

Keeeep laughing

Lovenhugs

Xoxo

[MXman]

I have found that laughing really helps too. Watching episodes of Faulty Towers and only fools and horses helps...N

[Matt2584 in reply to MXman]

Love Fawlty Towers :).

[cat3]

I couldn't agree more. I actually picked up a Blackadder dvd from a charity shop and played the whole series last weekend.

My previously low mood lifted massively after the first episode, partly owing the absurd humour which cleared my brain of negatives, but it seems that the raucous laughter it generated was also a factor.

My family and I have had to learn to cope with a barrage of horrible events and humour has played an enormous part in keeping us collectively sane !

Thanks for highlighting this important issue Matt ; and such a positive one. xx

[Matt2584 in reply to cat3]

No problem :).

Blackadder is another great one.

I love the second series when Blackadder asks Lord Percy if he knew what Irony was and he replies "It is like Goldy and Bronzy, only it is made of iron" :).

[cat3 in reply to Matt2584]

Yes, it has everything. And each character is priceless in his/her own way. If you don't laugh at this, I think you need to see a doctor !

Fawty towers too.................there's only one thing which can compare nowadays & that's Mrs Brown's boys. xx

[Matt2584 in reply to cat3]

I think you would probably be right on that. Mrs. Brown's boys is, I think, a pleasant, easy going comedy.

And I think that is what makes it successful.

Yes it does use the F word but not in a harsh way.

My Dad however hates it. Heaven knows why. My Nan, who WAS or shall I say IS Irish, said once that she liked the show but said the comedy was not like how Itish comedy used to be.

I don't know what Irish comedy used to be like but I just think that Mrs. Brown's boys is funny.

I have seen it live twice now at the O2 arena in London :).

[MXman]

Couldn't agree more cat, laughter and humour has really helped me and being in the building trade banter is rife between the workers. Its filtered through to my family who all have a wicked sense of humour especially my kids (13 and 15) Found yesterday though as I was having a really unusual bad brain fatigue day that laughter wasn't really helping especially toward the end of the day. Sleep helped though.

[cat3 in reply to MXman]

I'm with you on that MX, I agree that everything should stop for sleep ; it's top of my necessities list !

Hope you're feeling more upbeat today. xx

[malalatete]

And it is infectious too....'When you're smiling, when you're smiling, the whole world smiles with you....

[Matt2584 in reply to malalatete]

Sometimes I might be in a conversation, me, my mum and a friend. My friend and my mum are the main people talking while I sit and listen.

You can learn a lot by being quiet and listening. Anyway, that is a different story :).

I might not be paying total attention to what is going on but then my mum and friend are laughing and that makes me laugh.

I don't know what I am really laughing at but to see happy faces it makes me smile or even laugh.

[cat3 in reply to Matt2584]

I mentioned recently that I've taken to smiling at passers by, especially those who look really stressed or 'down' and the smile is reciprocated around 99% of the time.

I'm not meaning a toothy grin BTW, just a slight smile which reflects in the eyes.

And if someone else beats me to it, I can feel those pleasure hormones kicking in !

[Matt2584 in reply to cat3]

I have read once, treat people the way you want to be treated but that doesn't always work unfortunately :).

I have given a little smirk to passers by a few times, not necessarily trying to hit on them or anything. A wink would make it awkward haha.

I don't know if these passers by notice my smirk or if it is difficult to notice for them because of my weak muscles.

All I notice is there face because they usually have this look on it like a 'deer-in-the-headlights' look :).

And sometimes, a look like that can say to me they are freaked out by the way I look. Oh, I have noticed that before. The worst time was when a gas/electric bloke came to the door. I answered and as I was talking to him, he was standing there with this grimmacing look on his face.

I wish I had the courage/confidence at the time to speak up and say "I am not going to talk to you anymore if all your going to do is look freaked out by how I look".

I am a strong believe in karma so when the bloke left I hope he tripped... Preferrably face first into some dog muck :).

[Gaia_rising in reply to Matt2584]

Oh, sweetheart! I try not to smile at people, because it unsettles them, anyone who knows me, knows that if I'm smiling, I'm probably up to something.

I had one-sided weakness before the haemorrhage, so my smile has that Mona Lisa thing about it, a friend of mine once described my smile as "It's like she KNOWS something."

I'll keep smiling on the inside, because my outside smile is a bit like a dog with a toffee.

[Matt2584 in reply to Gaia_rising]

A dog with a toffee.

I like it, I will have to use that, if I may.

One question though, why a dog? Haha.

People thinking you are up to something when you smile. I picture the Grinch now :).

I have been commented for my dodgy smile, in a good way :). Some people like it.

Not sure if I agree though.

I look at myself in the mirror sometimes and think it's like The Terminator practising to smile :).

[Gaia_rising in reply to Matt2584]

You may take 'a dog with a toffee', if you promise to use it wisely- why a dog? You've obviously never seen a dog trying to eat a toffee...

I have NEVER been complimented on my smile, people either remember something urgent they have to do, a VERY long way away, or assume I'm baring my teeth to bite them, sometimes I am...

We'll all keep smiling.

[Matt2584 in reply to Gaia_rising]

I would probably use the 'dog with a toffee' line when I next talk about weak muscles in the face with my Headway group :), thanks for that one :).

I haven't ever seen a dog chewing on a toffee before but I can imagine it. My brother used to tell me stories of when his friend was talking to him with a mouth full of Curly Wurly, I picture that :).

[amvamp]

You are right Matt! When I did my nursing training 10 years ago, I wrote my degree dissertation on 'the physiological benefits of laughter as a nursing intervention'. It was an odd choice (I've always looked at things differently!) but v interesting - laughter boosts your immune system; fighting infection and preventing disease. And then there are all the psychological benefits! Bring on the giggles!!

Anna x

[Gaia_rising in reply to amvamp]

Anna, we use laughter to diffuse tension at work all the time- our new manager didn't 'click on' as to why we were showing our stupid socks to combatative kids, or why we have a tendency to prank each other, but now he knows.

If we didn't laugh, we'd cry.

[amvamp]

And I think that is true about life in general Gaia_rising - I hope people can always find something that makes them smile or laugh, even if it is just for a few seconds. It makes it easier to cope.