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The Mind Body Connection
Over the past two decades, Cancace Pert, Ph.D., a professor of biophysics at Georgetown University Medical Center in Washington , D.C. , has been studying the biochemistry of emotions. What she and her colleagues have found is that emotions aren’t all in our heads-they affect our whole bodies. In fact, the chemical processes that are caused by our emotions occur on the surface of every single body cell.
As a result of this mind-body link, “bad” emotions-such as stress-can have a negative impact on every body organ, including those that support our immune system. And because the immune system is the body’s main defense against infectious disease and cancer, a blow to your immunity is a blow to your general health, as well. So it stands to reason that the less your fret, the better your physical state will be.
Stress tied to heart attacks!
There is new evidence that acute mental stress can trigger heart attacks. Researchers long have suspected that stress can bring on heart attacks, but nobody fully understood how. University of Pittsburgh investigators recently showed that stress induces a chemical reaction that promotes blood clotting - one of the prime causes of heart attacks. Deadline-type pressure causes the problem. “We’re talking about what happens when there’s time pressure and some frustration or interference in getting something done,” says psychologist Susan Malkoff.
How Does Humor Help Us?
Most people agree that humor is a stress reliever, similar to other positive emotions. Laugh and you feel better.
Scientific evidence concurs.
Laughter helps the body to provide its own type of medication. Humor can medically stimulate the immune system. Norman Cousins was the first to bring attention to the benefits of therapeutic humor in his book “Anatomy of an Illness.” Cousins dedicated himself to exploring how humor and laughter affect the body and wellness. Studies have shown that laughter lowers serum cortisol levels, and increases the number and activity of natural killer cells. In non-medical jargon, laughter stimulates the immune system, off-setting the unwanted effects of stress. Humor can lower your blood pressure and give you energy.
Even without the scientific evidence, consider this: Humor feels better than sadness and you can never overdose on it.
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