How Humor Helps

It is Thursday, August 11, 2016 as I write this, and the national outrage generation has been running at max capacity.  Let’s review….

So far this week, Donald Trump may or may not have suggested (depending on the particular partisan or personal leanings of listeners):  A) an assassination of his opponent, should she win the presidency, to prevent the judicial appointments of potentially anti-gun judges; B) armed insurrection by “Second Amendment folks” against or to prevent such appointments, or, maybe just; C) that the “2^nd Amendment folks” should merely band together in an inspired act of political solidarity to preemptively head off existential threats to the right to keep and bear arms through peaceful activism. 

For her part, and belying her mass appeal and unifying persona (note: sarcasm), Mrs Clinton’s foibles continue to amaze, even when overshadowed by The Donald’s practiced flamboyance: her email woes continue with the purported release of 44 emails showing… something; an ability to not only deflect scathing criticism from the Justice Department over the obvious mishandling of sensitive, classified information, but to somehow spin it as complete vindication, leaves even supporters scratching their heads; and Benghazi simply refuses to go away. 

So, politically at least, there’s been plenty to keep the antacid industry flush with cash.  Fortunately, the world of law enforcement has finally settled down; police and protesters have found common ground, and it’s going to be all hugs and Kum-bah-yah from here on out. 

No… wait.  What am I thinking?  There was that thing in Chicago, with the stolen car.  And then that kid got shot, and the media and protesters are mad at the cops.  The cops are mad at the protesters and media, except for some cops who are really pissed at a few cops for making all cops look bad.  Yeah, there’s that…

So, plenty to be outraged about this week.  And we’re guessing that, between today, August 11^th and whenever you happen to read this, the world hasn’t erupted into a mass lovefest where we’re all sitting together in a meadow, arm-in-arm, drinking Cokes and teaching the world to sing (you young officers, go find a vet with a “touch of gray” to explain).  How do we navigate in a world full of anger?

In our last article (“How Anger Hurts”) we examined the negative effects of anger on our physical and psychological well-being, and promised to follow-up in this article with a simple counterweight to anger that strengthens our immunity and bolsters our health. 

Could laughter really be “the best medicine”?

“Mirth is God's medicine. Everybody ought to bathe in it. Grim care, moroseness, anxiety--all this rust of life--ought to be scoured off by the oil of mirth.”

-           Henry Ward Beecher

“If we couldn't laugh, we would all go insane.”

-          Jimmy Buffett

The connection between emotional experience and physiological wellness has been well-documented, and informed healthcare professionals understand there are holistic connections between psychological and physical health for many patients.  This is particularly true with stress and anger, as explored in our prior article.  But if it is true, as research has shown, that “(s)imply remembering a single experience of anger can suppress the immune system for up to six hours” there is a happy parallel on the other extreme; studies of endocrinological stress markers in test subjects exposed to humorous situations (films, etc) show both measurable  increases in markers related to lower stress, and reductions in cortisol levels (cortisol being commonly known as the “stress hormone” evident in increased amounts during and following stressful events/circumstances).  Studies are showing just one minute of laughter can boost the immune system for up to 24 hours!  Reductions in cortisol carry corresponding physical benefits, particularly to the cardiovascular system that is particularly susceptible to stress damage. 

In a November 2014 Time magazine interview (“You Asked: Does Laughing Have Real Health Benefits?” Heid, Markham, November 19, 2014), Dr Lee Berk, a researcher at Loma Linda University who has studied the effects of laughter on the brain and body for close to three decades, was quoted:

Thanks largely to these stress-quashing powers, laughter has been linked to health benefits ranging from lower levels of inflammation to improved blood flow, Berk says. Some research from Western Kentucky University has also tied a good chuckle to greater numbers and activity of “killer cells,” which your immune system deploys to attack disease. “Many of these same things also happen when you sleep right, eat right, and exercise,” Berk says, which is why he lumps laughter in with more traditional healthy lifestyle activities.

And, in the area of brain science that fascinates us so much:

Berk has even shown that laughter causes a change in the way your brain’s many neurons communicate with one another. Specifically, laughter seems to induce “gamma” frequencies—the type of brain waves observed among experienced meditators. These gamma waves improve the “synchronization” of your neuronal activity, which bolsters recall and memory, Berk says.

Without getting too far into the science, or trotting out dry stat after dry stat, just know the literature supporting the benefits of humor and laughter is rich.  Apart from the research, it makes sense intuitively; humor reframes the world in ways that relieve pressure, takes a measure of ownership and control of stressors that can otherwise overwhelm, and forms empathic and social bonds between people over commiseration and shared experience.  It grants power to “punch up” at the political, social, and economic constraints – and those who wield them over us – in an acceptable and often productive way.  In these ways, stress is reduced and we won’t “all go insane.”

It’s true most LEOs will develop a finely-honed, pitch-dark gallows humor, and this is good!  Notice the difference in morale, efficacy, and life balance between those cops who see and even appreciate the absurdity of this job through a lens of humor, and those who’ve tapped out emotionally. 

But we recommend going even further, expanding your repertoire, and finding additional outlets.  Gallows humor only goes so far before stepping off into the abyss – gallows is the operative and very apt word, after all – and doesn’t always sit well with a more, ummm, civilized audience.  You could try these:

Seek out funny people - We spend a lot of time with serious people, angry people, and depressed people in our worlds.  Seriousness, anger, and depression are contagious, but so is humor.  Connect with people who know how to really laugh, and when, and who know how to make others laugh with them.  Learn their tricks, explore how they see the world, and practice your own sense of humor on and with them (and yes, a sense of humor requires practice). 

Open your eyes to what’s funny around you – There are tremendously funny TV shows, movies, comics, plays, websites, etc all over.  In the realm of what’s real, humor abounds.  Frustration with work, life, and people in general, combined with a narrowing of views common to law enforcement, often work together to hinder our ability to laugh.  Open your eyes and your mind to seeing what really is funny around you. 

Formalize your search for humor – Consider taking an Improv, stand-up, or comedy writing class at a local college or comedy club.  There are few more pure ways of stepping outside your comfort zone and (figuratively) standing naked in front of others than these, except maybe (literally) standing naked in front of others.  Oh, and while you’re at it, you will meet some the most incredibly funny, creative, eccentric, and sometimes straight-up weird-o characters you will ever meet and learn from.

Just… lighten up – We all sometimes tend to take ourselves a little too seriously, and the temptation is especially great working in a profession like law enforcement, where life-and-death is a daily reality.  Still, being able to laugh at oneself, to recognize and poke fun at our own quirks and weaknesses, and see our own occasional complicity in the absurd around us is a valuable trait. 

We have little control over so much that affects us, why not control what we can?  One of the best and healthiest ways we can take control is by choosing to respond to the world around us with humor instead of anger.