Laughter is (at) best… (an adjunct) therapy
Dr Ankit Sharma
MBBS, MD, DM (Onco-Anesthesia)
Failed humorist, panic-friendly doctor
Blogs at notintandem.wordpress.com
Laughter is the best medicine. At least it has been rumored to be – by a lot of people. Should we believe something because it has been said by ‘a lot of people’? A lot of people also say that Taylor Swift is the greatest pop artist ever to have been born, but most of those people are teenage girls who call themselves Swifties and think that songs about your exes are the most exciting or powerful thing in the world.
Well, a lot of literature confirms that laughter boosts health. I used to be a glass-half-full guy when it came to medical literature, but then having seen the debacle around Hydroxychloroquine and Coronil during the Covid pandemic, and having published two thesis myself, I am now a ‘throw the glass away if someone else has poured something in it’ kind of a guy. So, I’m skeptical about the claim that laughter is the best medicine (Spoiler alert: it’s not. The best medicine is Paracetamol. I would have also accepted Cetirizine).
Since the common public as well as the judiciary is obsessed about ‘side effects’ of every therapy, let’s look at the side effects of laughter therapy:
1. It changes the world’s perception of you
Pop-culture art works, such as Jagjit Singh songs, tell you that if you are smiling or laughing, you are hiding some deep pain. Not to mention that if you laugh at inappropriate moments, you may cost yourself marks in a viva, a relationship, maybe even a legal case. If you practice uninhibited laughter in public, people may mistake you for a particular Yoga-Guru’s follower, or a retired person whose kids hate him/her, and in private, you mistake yourself to be following the character arc similar to the first half of Joaquin Phoenix’s Joker.
2. You risk entering a cult
Lots of laughter yoga clubs have mushroomed up around us. In case you’re wondering how the ‘club’ mentality works, here is my poorly-researched conspiracy theory. Any club starts off as an innocent gathering of like-minded or mildly enthusiastic people. They slowly gain traction via word of mouth or power of bought-and-paid-for advertising. In due time, they bloom into places where power structures and hierarchies appear.
Phase two is getting new members to sign up, whether by campaign, money, threat or the simple technique of social media FOMO. Then these clubs lay forth their rules, regulations, attendance registers and penal code. That’s when the exit doors close, and even if you exit, you will forever be known as the person who joined the said cult. Best-case scenario: you get to appear in a documentary series on Discovery+.
I feel it’s the same in every club , whether it is veganism, environmental activism, a political party, religious ideology (or lack of it), or a football club. I have no reason to believe these laughter yoga clubs will be any different. Also, a ‘laughter yoga club’ is the second most lame club you can be associated with. The first spot still belongs to Royal Challengers Bangalore.
3. Your sense of humour will decay worse than forgotten boiled eggs
In order to trigger forced laughter, you may end up forcing your subconscious mind to enjoy poor quality humor, like pun jokes, the Kapil Sharma show, and the incoherent blabber that you’re currently reading. Such a low threshold, although means that you’d even enjoy misogynistic whatsapp forwards and Emraan Hashmi’s earlier movies, is hardly anything to be proud of.
Having said all that, you wouldn’t be taking a shot at happiness and good health if you constantly worry about what others think or what some idiot has written in a post. Laughter is a low-cost, highly effective exercise and, I’m only saying this for Gen Z readers, it “legit slaps for real, bro”.
So, maybe just mind your surroundings and laugh your heart out, as an exercise or for no reason at all. As grandparents may have told you, it increases Hemoglobin . Even if it doesn’t, it increases your life expectancy.[1] While you’re at it, clap along, if you feel like happiness is the truth.
References:
- Romundstad S, Svebak S, Holen A, Holmen J. A 15-Year Follow-Up Study of Sense of Humor and Causes of Mortality: The Nord-Trøndelag Health Study. Psychosom Med. 2016 Apr;78(3):345-53.
