A funny thing happened on the way to depression
And if it gave people a good laugh, some people may have missed the depression altogether. In a paper being presented in an American Physiological Society session at Experimental Biology 2006, Lee S. Berk of Loma Linda University, reports that the mere anticipation of watching a favorite funny movie produced a substantial increase in beta-endorphins. The effects lasted through the movie and for a while afterwards.
Beta-endorphins are similar to opiates. They operate on the same brain systems as opiates. But they are produced in your brain. And your brain knows how to use them for your benefit. And the government doesn’t know how to ban them. Yet.
Beta-endorphins make you feel good. They change your mood. They counteract mild feelings of depression. I mean non-clinical levels of depression. The kind many people might have if things go wrong.
Last Wednesday I commented about people who were depressed and were showing a particular pattern of persistent vigilance (by fMRI). I would expect that humor, if it could be induced in such patients, would interrupt that pattern and provide some relief from the depression. (With clinically depressed patients, there would be a problem in getting them to respond to the humor.) I expect an investigation of such effects is already in the works.
But other people can use a bit of mood management, too. So the take-away message here is that things you find funny make you feel better. Maybe you already know that and so keep things at hand that will make you laugh. Maybe you even spread the funnies around to share the laughter.
Life is too important to be taken seriously.
But just in case you have forgotten about the benefits of laughing, this study shows serious reasons for laughing. Beck suggests, “important positive implications for wellness, disease-prevention and most certainly stress-reduction.” (The potential benefits include strengthening the immune system.)
Sounds like everything you could expect from the next herb supplement fad. But more entertaining. (When was the last time you got a laugh out of herb supplements?) That reminds me. I need to refill my comedy prescription at Blockbuster. I just used up my supply of “Barney Miller”. Opened my stock of “All in the Family.” Maybe I’ll get a dose of Bugs Bunny for next week.
Beta-endorphins are similar to opiates. They operate on the same brain systems as opiates. But they are produced in your brain. And your brain knows how to use them for your benefit. And the government doesn’t know how to ban them. Yet.
Beta-endorphins make you feel good. They change your mood. They counteract mild feelings of depression. I mean non-clinical levels of depression. The kind many people might have if things go wrong.
Last Wednesday I commented about people who were depressed and were showing a particular pattern of persistent vigilance (by fMRI). I would expect that humor, if it could be induced in such patients, would interrupt that pattern and provide some relief from the depression. (With clinically depressed patients, there would be a problem in getting them to respond to the humor.) I expect an investigation of such effects is already in the works.
But other people can use a bit of mood management, too. So the take-away message here is that things you find funny make you feel better. Maybe you already know that and so keep things at hand that will make you laugh. Maybe you even spread the funnies around to share the laughter.
Life is too important to be taken seriously.
But just in case you have forgotten about the benefits of laughing, this study shows serious reasons for laughing. Beck suggests, “important positive implications for wellness, disease-prevention and most certainly stress-reduction.” (The potential benefits include strengthening the immune system.)
Sounds like everything you could expect from the next herb supplement fad. But more entertaining. (When was the last time you got a laugh out of herb supplements?) That reminds me. I need to refill my comedy prescription at Blockbuster. I just used up my supply of “Barney Miller”. Opened my stock of “All in the Family.” Maybe I’ll get a dose of Bugs Bunny for next week.
posted by Selby Evans at 9:56 AM
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