Cancer is not much to laugh about. Right? But actually laughter is good for us as I was reminded the other day by a doctor who suggested watching comedies rather than the news.
Sadly the news is rather depressing these days with wars, weather, politics and the economy. In fact there are a number of articles online about this very thing. One I found is entitled “Is Watching the News Bad for Mental Health?“. It is slightly out of date having been written when Covid was at its height, but it nevertheless made the point how damaging it can be to get too much news. And if it affects the mind, it affects the body and affects our healing. Certainly we need to keep informed, but we need to avoid being worried or upset about things we can do nothing about. I remember recently hearing someone say that he rationed his news intake to one day a week, when he did his catching up on what was going on in the world. And when he did that he used sources with differing political biases so as to get a more balanced picture.
I guess the beneficial effect of laughter has been known for a long time, but is not something that I have thought about. I don’t see The Readers’ Digest any more, but I remember seeing copies some 60 years ago with a page or more of humour “Laughter is the Best Medicine”, and likely they still have it.
I did an internet search on the beneficial effects of laughter and there were loads of results. One from the Mayo Clinic HERE. So there is plenty of evidence that we need to laugh for the sake of our mental and physical health. If we have a physical health condition like cancer, it doesn’t do us good to dwell too much on the negative aspects of it. A good laugh gives us a break and does us good.
I looked up a few joke websites and they didn’t do much for me. I guess we are all different in this respect. I am not a great fan of stand-up comedy either. Other people just love it. But I have been having a great time looking at sitcoms on catch-up TV and there are some good funny films an catch-up TV and streaming channels too. We each need to find what we enjoy that makes us laugh and then use it to help heal our bodies.
I have pointed out in other blog posts that recovery from cancer needs to be a matter of healing the whole person – body, mind and spirit. Laughing is something that we can practice to assist that process.