{"id":6738,"date":"2021-10-20T07:21:15","date_gmt":"2021-10-20T11:21:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.silvercentury.org\/?p=6738"},"modified":"2021-10-21T19:54:22","modified_gmt":"2021-10-21T23:54:22","slug":"whats-so-funny-about-aging","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/78.142.243.82\/~silvercentury\/2021\/10\/whats-so-funny-about-aging\/","title":{"rendered":"What\u2019s So Funny about Aging?"},"content":{"rendered":"

When the COVID-19 pandemic struck in March 2020, Carmen Emery, 75, began emailing uplifting spiritual meditations to about 300 friends from church. She quickly realized the daily emails needed something more, so she added three or four funny memes at the end of each meditation, with one-liners like \u201cMy housekeeping style can best be described as \u2018There appears to have been a struggle\u2019\u201d and \u201cDon\u2019t blame others for the road you\u2019re on. That\u2019s your own asphalt.\u201d  <\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

Emery\u2019s friends appreciated the meditations, but they really loved the goofy memes. Messages of gratitude poured in.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI get lots of people quoting their favorites,\u201d she said. <\/span><\/p>\n

Buoyed by the response, Emery kept up with the messages, sending emails for more than 500 consecutive days, including two weeks in December when she battled COVID-19.  <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cLooking for memes each day has been a blast,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd sharing humor lifted my spirits and gave me a way to spread joy with others.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Health Benefits<\/b><\/p>\n

Humor helps people weather difficult times, and a growing body of research suggests it goes even further. Humor is a tool that can help older adults stay healthier, happier and more able to cope with the challenges of aging. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cEvery single body system that is negatively affected by stress can be positively affected by humor,\u201d said Karyn Buxman, a registered nurse and professional speaker, who calls herself a \u201cneurohumorist.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Laughter increases adrenaline and oxygen flow and releases endorphins. Laughing and enjoying humor help lower cortisol. (High levels of cortisol are linked to cancer, heart disease and diabetes.) Studies suggest that humor can help people solve problems and make better decisions. Humor can decrease loneliness, depression and anger.<\/span><\/p>\n

Laughter, along with an active sense of humor, may help protect against a heart attack. Cardiologists at the University of Maryland Medical Center found that people with heart disease were less likely to laugh, in a variety of situations, compared to those without heart disease.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe old saying that \u2018laughter is the best medicine\u2019 definitely appears to be true when it comes to protecting your heart,\u201d said Michael Miller, MD, director of the Center for Preventive Cardiology at the University of Maryland. <\/span><\/p>\n

A small study at the University of Texas, Austin, asked healthy adults to watch a humorous, 30-minute video or a documentary. Researchers then measured artery function and flexibility. Both measures improved immediately in the volunteers who watched a comedy and stayed that way for almost 24 hours. Artery function decreased slightly among those who watched a documentary.<\/span><\/p>\n

Laughing, Not Crying<\/b><\/p>\n

Research points to humor as a powerful coping tool for helping older adults deal with the negative aspects of aging. As a caregiving expert who works with older adults, Pamela Wilson sees that often\u2014like the time when she had to assist an older woman with Alzheimer\u2019s in using the toilet. Humor lightened the mood. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhoever thought I would need this kind of help at this age?\u201d the woman joked. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cMaking a joke helped her to not be so embarrassed,\u201d said Wilson. \u201cBecause we were laughing together, she didn\u2019t feel as badly about the situation.\u201d Wilson added that older adults who are able to adapt often seem to be the ones who are more able to laugh at themselves. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cEspecially as we age, life either gets funnier or more sobering,\u201d said Dena Kouremetis, 70, who writes a column, (R)aging with Grace, for <\/span>Psychology Today<\/span><\/i>. \u201cThat adage about laughing instead of crying begins to make real sense.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

If you\u2019re feeling lonely or isolated, sharing laughter can help.<\/b><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Humor is also a source of social connection that brings friends, families and couples together. Kouremetis says shared jokes and laughs keep her relationship with her husband humming along.<\/span>  <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cHumor gets you through the losses that come with aging,\u201d she said. \u201cIf you don\u2019t have a shared sense of humor, you\u2019re not going to get through it.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Humor also tends to be contagious and best enjoyed with others.  <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cSharing laughter\u2014watching a favorite sitcom with a spouse or reminiscing about funny memories with friends\u2014reduces isolation and loneliness, which contributes to good physical, psychological and cognitive health,\u201d said Jennifer FitzPatrick, a social worker and author of <\/span>Cruising through Caregiving: Reducing the Stress of Caring for Your Loved One<\/span><\/i> (2016). <\/span><\/p>\n

Laughing With or Laughing At?<\/b><\/p>\n

Humor about the process of aging is important and helpful as people age. Humor is very personal, and there is a line between what\u2019s funny and what\u2019s offensive, but the ups and downs of aging do offer a rich mine of humorous situations. Several aging and caregiving experts interviewed for this article praised <\/span>The Kominsky Method<\/span><\/i>, a Netflix dramedy series that tackles topics like erectile dysfunction, health problems and end-of-life with humor and empathy.  <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYou have two characters [played by Alan Arkin and Michael Douglas] who are very good friends, talking about this stuff that happens every day when you\u2019re older,\u201d said Wilson. \u201cThey\u2019re not afraid to talk about it. They\u2019re laughing about it.\u201d <\/span>     <\/span><\/p>\n

Aging provides plenty of what comedians might call \u201cmaterial.\u201d Older adults are more likely to face chronic health issues, with the daily challenges that come with them: medications, doctor visits and more. Even active, healthy older adults sooner or later face the realities of aging\u2014the need for reading glasses, occasional forgetfulness, diminished physical strength, minor aches and pains. Having the ability to laugh at the absurdities of life becomes an effective coping strategy. <\/span><\/p>\n

Humor is closely intertwined with positivity or being \u201cin good humor\u201d\u2014maintaining a cheerful attitude and having a willingness to be playful and creative, according to Kathy Laurenhue, CEO of Wiser Now, Inc., a publishing company focused on well-being in aging. Positive, optimistic people often see the humor in a situation. They tend to be more resilient, have better coping and problem-solving skills, seek social support more often and live longer and healthier lives than those who are generally negative. <\/span><\/p>\n

Humor vs Laughter <\/b><\/p>\n

Laughter and humor aren\u2019t quite the same thing, cautions Chandramallika Basak, associate professor at the Center for Vital Longevity at the University of Texas at Dallas. <\/span>     <\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cLaughter is more expressive, but humor is more cerebral,\u201d Basak said. This is reflected in research that suggests that aging-related cognitive decline can reduce an older person\u2019s ability to comprehend humor. In one study, older adults were less likely to choose the correct punch line for a joke in a multiple-choice test. On the other hand, older subjects were more likely to show appreciation and enjoyment of humor.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s not surprising to me as a cognitive scientist,\u201d said Basak. \u201cShort-term, working memory plays a big role in humor. That\u2019s a function of the frontal lobe, one of the first areas of the brain to decline with age. But the amygdala, the part of the brain that responds to fear and laughter, doesn\u2019t decline as rapidly.\u201d  <\/span><\/p>\n

As we age, our taste in humor may change too. Researchers have divided humor into three categories: affiliative humor, which promotes social bonding through self-deprecatory, \u2018I can relate to that\u2019 humor; aggressive humor, which mocks or ridicules others; and self-enhancing humor, which highlights the positive aspect of a situation. Older adults tend to enjoy affiliative humor and are more likely to object to aggressive humor. <\/span><\/p>\n

Coping with Fear<\/b><\/p>\n

As a \u201cphysician-comedienne,\u201d Cynthia Shelby-Lane, MD, takes humor very seriously. She completed training at the Second City Training Center in Chicago and performs standup in comedy clubs in her spare time. <\/span><\/p>\n

She\u2019s convinced humor keeps her vital; she\u2019s still practicing emergency medicine at 70. Humor also helps her connect with patients and brings relief in agonizing moments, such as the time in the emergency room when she handed a baby aspirin to a 350-pound, 6-foot-3 man who had just had a heart attack. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cA baby aspirin?!\u201d he said. \u201cAre you kidding? Doc, have you seen my size?\u201d The two shared a good laugh. The patient was moved to the ICU and died later that evening.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m glad we could laugh together before he died,\u201d she said. \u201cHe was so scared, but that moment eased his fear.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

Humor\u2019s ability to disarm fear also makes it a good teaching tool. Gail Rubin, a death educator, uses humor to nudge older adults to have conversations they\u2019d rather not have about death and end-of-life planning. When she speaks to audiences, she tosses off one-liners like \u201cLet\u2019s get death out of the closet\u201d and \u201cTalking about sex won\u2019t make you pregnant; talking about funerals won\u2019t make you dead.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s an effective icebreaker. \u201cWhen people laugh, they relax and they learn,\u201d Rubin said. \u201cLaughter opens people up to what they need to know.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

Humor Interventions<\/b><\/p>\n

If laughter is truly the best medicine, can humor be used as an intervention to promote health? Can people bring humor into their lives intentionally?<\/span><\/p>\n

An older adult needn\u2019t be good at telling jokes or being funny to enjoy the benefits of humor. But humor isn\u2019t a one-size-fits-all prescription. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cOne person might really enjoy potty humor, another slapstick, and another satire,” said Marie Gress, a licensed social worker in Michigan. <\/span><\/p>\n

But anyone can intentionally add humor to the daily routine by nurturing friendships with people who make them laugh or by bookmarking funny videos on their computers. Buxman keeps a file of \u201cmoments of mirth\u201d\u2014funny experiences she can revisit, mentally, down the road, recreating the burst of good feeling. She even enlists strangers for hits of humor: \u201cIf I\u2019m in an Uber, I\u2019ll ask the driver, \u2018Tell me about the craziest person you\u2019ve ever driven.\u2019\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s about mindset,\u201d Buxman said. \u201cFunny things are always happening. You can learn to start seeing and experiencing the humor that was always there.\u201d  <\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When the COVID-19 pandemic struck in March 2020, Carmen Emery, 75, began emailing uplifting spiritual meditations to about 300 friends from church. She quickly realized the daily emails needed something more, so she added three or four funny memes at…<\/span><\/p>\n

Read more What\u2019s So Funny about Aging?<\/span> ›<\/span><\/a><\/div>\n

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