The healing power of humor

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Research shows that laughing every day can add up to eight years to your life. Who knew that having a good guffaw was as healthy as eating broccoli? Actually, the knowledge has been around for quite a while.Remember Norman Cousins, author of "Anatomy of an Illness," who laughed himself well by watching old Three Stooges and Marx Brothers movies? He later helped to create the study of psycho-immunology, which is about how your thinking affects your health. Since his groundbreaking work, a number of theories have developed around the therapeutic power of laughter and humor and its use in counseling and medicine.I encourage my clients to use humor when they have difficulty dealing with their kids, as well as when they are intensely looking into themselves. It's truly one of the most underutilized tools we have as human beings. If more people were able to laugh at themselves, sales of antidepressants would drop dramatically, along with divorce and suicide rates.Having a sense of humor has a strong positive effect on relationships. When a couple develops the aptitude to see the humor in their behaviors, and even their arguments, their chances of maintaining a successful long-term relationship goes way up.When you give someone permission to laugh, you also give that person permission to cry, which is one of the reasons gentle humor can be so therapeutic. We reveal our true emotions only after we feel safe with someone else.Laughter will get you through some of the darkest nights and help you cope with the most difficult of days. Look at your life and tell me you can't chuckle at the ironic moments or laugh out loud at some of your self-made bad days.Sometimes finding things to laugh at and someone to laugh with can be a challenge. You may think you're really funny, but nobody gets you. At other times, life just doesn't give you room or reason to feel a little giddy. In these cases, you need to give yourself a break and take yourself to, or rent, a really good comedy. You can also read something funny or go to a comedy club. Giving yourself a laughter recess will lower your stress level, help you relax and at least temporarily give you a moment away from your troubles.Although I believe in a daily dose of yuckin' it up, at least once a week is mandatory to maintain some emotional fitness. So, check out the funnies or watch some "I Love Lucy" reruns. Whatever makes you giggle is just what this doctor is ordering.(Dr. Barton Goldsmith, a marriage and family therapist in Westlake Village, Calif., is the author of "Emotional Fitness for Couples."E-mail him at Barton(at)BartonGoldsmith.com)