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no, this is not a post calling for jokes. i quite seriously believe that laughter is the most powerful medicine in the cosmic pharmacopeia. this is a grimly serious discussion of how/why/where that is true, most especially for managing my anxiety.
not all humor is medicinal. at the start of my active therapy in 1972, sarcasm was my most developed form of humor. my sarcasm was typically mean-spirited with cutting edges designed to wound. my first step toward developing a medicinal sense of humor was to remind myself constantly that "sarcasm" is the greek word for tearing of flesh. i still need to remind of that more often than i wish. old habits die hard.
at present i believe that a medicinal sense of humor is humble. compassionate and gentle. no inuendos of superiority. no attempts to predict the future. no name calling. just a gentle summary of just how silly life can get. don't worry. be happy.
thoughts? opines?
this is a serious post, but balance in all things, especially seriousness.
q: why is six afraid of seven?
a: because seven ate nine.
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Life has been really hard this past year. I'm really feeling down and alone. I can't talk to my family about my depression and anxiety their not very understanding about it. It's really hitting me since my mother passed a few months ago, plus stress from having to eventually move. Also having my niece coming around who suffers bipolar and refuses to take medication for it. Its been...
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When i was in the ER February 16th 2025, i was being admitted to ICU where i was for 3 weeks, then had to relearn to walk for 3 weeks in another hospital rehab floor, the nurse told me something that made me feel for over 18 months now that i was finally *safe*. She told me that the guy who raped and beat me 21 years ago now almost 20 years at that time, was in prison as of a month before that...
Short aspirating noises while showing teeth is hostility or fear (or illness) everywhere else in Nature, so to me, laughter in humans is medicinal because it is a way to release those reactions. it's why we giggle in the inappropriate circumstances, etc. Like other critters, we're on edge. Cats anxiety-purr, dogs may whine, some of us humans get the giggles. It releases stress without harming us.
TLDR? Laughter is medicinal b/c it releases endorphins that counter the fight/flight stress hormone. That's my take on it.
I giggled at a funeral once...sigh...anxiety
And I sure understand the get them before they get me sarcasm
It sure does feel good to laugh though under the right circumstances
I remember after caring for my folks during the last few years of their lives I was really a wreck
I don't think I'd laughed for a very long time and I watched Alf at Christmas and cried I laughed so hard
Silly but it felt good
Sometimes when I’m having a hard time with (well all kinds of stuff really … the worries, chronic pain, injury stuff, ptsd ect.) I put on a funny movie because I think that even if I just laugh a little bit that in those couple seconds, or minutes my body is getting a chance to feel a little less stress on it.
There’s for sure been times after a really rough therapy session that I go home & say “I’m watching a funny movie tonight I need to laugh”
Big hugs <3
interesting connection to the fake-it-till-you-make-it treatment. i hate lying with the i-am-fine platitudes when i am not even close to okay, but the details of my current funk are usually inappropriate for a variety of reasons. i try to tell my awful truth with a bit of gentle humor that doesn't add to the weight. i just might add, "i'm faking it till i make it." to that particular repertoire.
I'm a huge stand up comedy fan. I went to as many live stand up comedy shows as I could before retiring to Mexico. And down here I still watch them on Netflix. Just last night I watched two.
It's self care for me.
Proverbs 17:22 (A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.)
I use to tell my mom often to try and find humor or something to laugh about (joke, funny tv show or book, etc.) everyday to help cheer up the soul and heal the heart. She use to respond that she couldn't find much humor or comic relief in this life. My heart hurt just remembering these conversations, because she ended with extremely dry bones due to a leukemia called CLL.