July 2006
Important Notice:
Members who consult the AATH E-zine know that the editor regularly states that the association of laughter and endorphin release has not been scientifically proven. This may be changing. In a recent study, Dr. Lee Berk of Loma Linda University in Southern California demonstrates endorphin release in a group of subjects who watched a comic video. This study has gone through peer review and has been presented at a major medical meeting, however it has not yet been published nor have these findings been independently repeated by other investigators. Both need to be done before we should fully embrace this finding. However, in light of Dr. Berk’s findings, the E-zine editor will no longer be correcting authors and speakers claiming the association of laughter and endorphins. Still, we advise caution in stating this until Berk's research has been reviewed and published.
The monthly, members-only, e-zine keeps AATH members updated on the latest developments in the world of applied and therapeutic humor. Each link will open a new window for anything outside the AATH website. All web links below have been carefully checked and worked at the time of publication. If the link does not take you to the listed article, please contact the owners of that website about finding that article. Disclaimer: Published by Association for Applied and Therapeutic Humor. AATH accepts no responsibility for any claims, either expressed or implied, in this publication. The information and opinions expressed herein do not necessarily reflect those of AATH, its officers, directors, staff, or members. |
Humor Research:NewsFactor Magazine Online
Coming Soon: Mind-Reading Computers
By Barry Levine,
June 26, 2006
A webcam's images of the user's face are read by the software for telltale visual signs of emotional states. The data from the webcam is assessed according to two dozen "feature points" on the face and 20 facial movements, like nodding. www.newsfactor.com
AATH in the NEWS:
Rochester Democrat and Chronicle
A joke or two in the workplace can lessen the stress
By Joy Davia, June 4, 2006
"It's critically important," said (E-zine ed. note: AATH member) Michael Kerr, president of the Humor At Work Institute, who is coming to Rochester June 14. "It creates a more productive and healthy workplace — and serves as a barometer of success in the workplace." www.democratandchronicle.com
LancasterOnline.com
Work? That’s a laugh
June 5, 2006
A perception has been that workers who are laughing aren't working hard or taking their jobs seriously, but (E-zine Ed. note: AATH member) Elaine Boltz said, "I'm trying to change that." http://local.lancasteronline.com
Priceless
They All Laughed, June 12, 2006
In 1999, at the age of 35, (E-zine Ed. note: AATH member) Saranne Rothberg was diagnosed with aggressive breast cancer. Today, she's the head of The ComedyCures Foundation, an organization that brings humor to terminally and chronically ill people through, among other things, DVDs, joke books, therapeutic comedy events, and "Laughing Lunches ." www.priceless.com
The Coloradoan
Laughing Matters
By Kelli Lackett, June 25, 2006
Laughter has countless health benefits, including strengthening the immune system, stimulating blood circulation, increasing endorphins and reducing stress, said (E-zine ed. note: AATH member) Marilyn Sprague-Smith, a consultant and trainer from Greensboro, N.C., who led the workshop. www.coloradoan.com
Humor for Health
Kids Get Arthritis Too
May/June 2006 Issue
(E-zine Ed. note: Article mentions AATH, AATH President Allen Klein, and AATH member Saranne Rothberg)
Articles on Humor
By Paul E. McGhee, Ph D (E-zine Ed. note:AATH member)
Humor Your Tumor -
How Humor Helps You Cope
The Physical Health Benefits
Emotion: The Key to the Mind’s Influence on Health http://laughterremedy.com
HUMOR in the NEWS:
Jacksonville News
Therapist adds humor to treatment
By John Alred, June 1, 2006
“When people, especially older people, come here they are often hurting and scared. Many are wondering if this is it … if the next step is the nursing home. I try to get them in a good frame of mind to work hard and get better. If that’s done with humor then that’s what I’ll do. I try to laugh all day long.” www.jaxnews.com
Battle Creek Enquirer
Laughter helps—for Katrina victims, relief workers
By Sandy Carlson,
June 3, 2006
But amidst the heat and sweat and bug bites, there is indeed humor, for with humor there brings hope. www.battlecreekenquirer.com
JournalInquirer.com
Laughter is good medicine, surgeon-author tells cancer survivors
By Tracy E. Gilchrist,
June 5, 2006
Robust laughter permeated the Enfield Senior Center on Sunday when Dr. Bernie Siegel addressed a crowd of about 325 people who've all been touched by cancer… "Don't lose your childlike sense of humor," was just one of multiple keys to living that Siegel shared. www.journalinquirer.com
Langley Times
Laughter helps mental illness Comedy Courage members shine light in dark places
by Kristylclark,
June 4, 2006
Comedy Courage is an innovative comedic training program for individuals living with a mental illness. It helps them to achieve the confidence to step onstage in front of a room full of people, to make light of their own diagnoses. www.langleytimes.com
StarNewsOnline.com
Show explores the use of humor as weapon against cancer
By Kris Testori,
June 7, 2006
The idea of using humor to brighten your outlook while undergoing treatment for cancer is being explored on a radio program airing 7 p.m. Thursday on public radio station WHQR 91.3. The segment is the second in a weekly four-part documentary series, Walking Through the Storm, featuring cancer survivors and medical experts and their views on hope and quality of life. www.wilmingtonstar.com
TimesDispatch.com
In sad or awkward times, laughter’s a fine medicine
By Randy Fitzgerald,
June 16, 2006
My much-loved dad had slipped over into Alzheimer's some years before we lost him, and sometimes the only way his wife and children could deal with Dad's "descent" was through humor. http://www.timesdispatch.com
The Arizona Republican
For Dr. D., laughter was as important as cure
By Brendan M. Beggs,
June 16, 2006
He (Dr. John Danforth) was an unusually spirited soul who was always on the brink of laughter, a trait that defined his character as much as his "Love you, dear" blessings that defined his style with children and mothers leaving his office. www.azcentral.com
Cape Cod Times
A certain kind of beauty
By Johanna Crosby,
June 13, 2006
Aronie is depicted venting frustration with his failing body and expressing suicidal thoughts. But humor shines through the dark moments. www.capecodonline.com/cctimes/acertain14.htm
SouthBendTribune.com
Doctor prescribes laughter
By Christopher Behnan,
June 11, 2006
Donnellon is a general surgeon at St. Joseph Mercy Livingston Hospital in Howell and wrote "Cancer! The Musical" to help cancer patients consider their plight in a more lighthearted manner. www.southbendtribune.com
San Antonio Business Journal
Leadership and laughter go hand-in-hand
By Jim Eskin,
June 2, 2006
When we think about great presidents, a quick wit often comes immediately to mind -- stories about Lincoln, FDR, JFK and Reagan. More often than not, unsuccessful presidents lacked a sense of humor. How many of Richard Nixon's jokes do you remember? http://sanantonio.bizjournals.com
NewsRegister.com
Fighting cancer with his sense of humor
By Starla Poiner,
June 17, 2006
During his illness, he called himself things like "Tumor Boy," turning everything he could into a joke. Humor was vital to his survival, he said. www.newsregister.com
TimesDispatch.com
In sad times, laughter’s a fine medicine
By Randy Fitzgerald,
June 16, 2006
I mean, either you weep for a while over that, or you can laugh. And one of those responses is as good as another for the Alzheimer's sufferer -- but the laugh was definitely preferable for this particular caregiver. www.timesdispatch.com
INQ7.net
Inside Our: Laugh, don’t cry
By Cory Quirino,
June 19, 2006
It’s much like a ham-and-egg sandwich—the chicken is compromised while the pig is committed. If that didn’t make you laugh or at least bring a smile to your face, then maybe it’s time you lighten up for your health’s sake. http://news.inq7.net
UCSFtoday
Employee Well-Being Program Implemented in Cancer Center
By Nancy Chan,
June 21, 2006
A favorite workshop expressed by many — finding humor on the job — features a comedian who does improvisation with the staff. http://pub.ucsf.edu
WestportNow.com
Laughter Dominates Staples Graduation
By Jennifer Connic,
June 22, 2006
“Laughter releases us from the sadness that the reality of life can cause,” he said. “It makes us human.” www.westportnow.com
MSNBC
Send in the clowns to boost IVF success
June 21, 2006
But after introducing clown therapy to patients having in-vitro fertilization, doctors at Assaf Harofeh Medical Center in Zerifin, Israel, said the conception rate rose from 20 to 35 percent. www.msnbc.msn.com
LanchasterOnline.com
Note to the Over-Laughers: You’re ruining the moment
By Jane Holahan,
June 21, 2006
But Over Laughers are not regular audience members. After almost 20 years of opening nights, I recognize a lot of them. They are usually friends of the cast, supporters of theater, talented people who want their friends to succeed. http://local.lancasteronline.com
Ottawasun.com
Learn to laugh… you’ll live longer
By Holly Lake,
June 22, 2006
While working at the Ottawa Hospital, Martin created humour rooms at the cancer lodges for people receiving treatment, filled with with funny videos, audio tapes, cheery images and books. Martin said many patients who were filled with worries found watching a funny movie helped them fall into an easy, restful sleep. http://ottsun.canoe.ca
The World of HUMOR
HUMOR IN THE NEWS: RELATED ARTICLE
MediaCorp Press
Happiness and family, cultural link
By Kesang Dema,
June 1, 2006
And as my country continues to shoulder this responsibility of making GNH the solution to problems that scourge the world today, I don't hesitate to answer that I am happy. Because I am assured that I have a green, unpolluted, mystical country and a caring family to go back to. www.todayonline.com
BBC News
Does diversity make us unhappy?
By Mark Easton,
May 31, 2006
Interviewed on The Happiness Formula, the chair of the Commission for Racial Equality, Trevor Phillips accepts that people are happier if they are with people like themselves. http://news.bbc.co.uk
BBC News
Is there a happiness formula?
By Mike Rudin,
June 2, 2006
Psychologists have now come up with a formula for happiness. Pleasure + engagement + meaning = happiness. http://news.bbc.co.uk
DenverPost.com
Willing your way to happiness
By Colleen O’Connor
Dr. Richard Davidson, director of the Laboratory for Affective Neuroscience, put the monk, Matthieu Ricard, into an MRI that videotapes functions of the brain. Inside the machine, as the monk meditated on compassion, his brain showed a dramatic increase in activity in the areas connected to enthusiasm and joy. www.denverpost.com
American Chronicle
Aristotle’s Concept of Happiness
By Tanvir Orakzai,
June 5, 2006
Aristotle argues that happiness is the soul’s activity that expresses virtue and is complete without qualification, http://www.americanchronicle.com
KCCI Des Moines
Do People Create Their Own Luck?
June 5, 2006
Plowing through their accumulated evidence, the researchers asked whether happy people are better off, whether they cope better, whether they reap larger social rewards, and whether they have stronger immune systems. And the answers were invariably yes, even though the evidence for stronger immunity is, again, only suggestive so far. www.kcci.com
Whole Life Times
Happiness
By Andi McDaniel,
June 2006
“Especially in the US,” Ben-Shahar explains, “there is almost a cultural admonition to be cheerful, to put on a happy face, to smile, to look happy.” The problem is, a diet of cheerfulness-for-every-meal leaves individuals ill-equipped to deal with life’s unavoidable dark side—the uniquely human experiences of grief, anger, envy, sadness and fear. http://wholelifetimes.com
Forbes.com
With Age Comes Wisdom… and Happiness
June 16, 2006
If you're happy and you know it, chances are you're no whippersnapper. That's the upshot of a new Internet survey that found senior citizens report being happier than younger people. www.forbes.com
ThirdAge. Health & Wellness
The Hidden Sid of Happiness: Adversity Can Be Good
By Kathleen McGowan,
June 2006
Those who weather adversity well are living proof of one of the paradoxes of happiness: We need more than pleasure to live the best possible life. www.thirdage.com
University of Michigan Health Systems Press Release
Hope I die before I get old: Study finds attitudes about aging contradict reality
By Kara Gavin,
June 13, 2006
“People often believe that happiness is a matter of circumstance, that if something good happens, they will experience long-lasting happiness, or if something bad happens, they will experience long-term misery,” he says. “But instead, people’s happiness results more from their underlying emotional resources — resources that appear to grow with age. www.med.umich.edu
The Nation
Watchdog: Sufficiency economics: goal is human happiness
By Nophakhun Limsamaruphun,
June 25, 2006
Ultimately, the concepts of sufficiency economics are not just for national development or business and industry, but are also useful for individuals in managing their daily lives with the goal of being happy. http://nationmultimedia.com
If you see something you would like to share in our E-Zine, send the lead to
Bob Nozik, E-zine Editor ezine@aath.org
