ABSTRACT
This chapter concerns the problem of the effect of humor: Is laughter good medicine? In lay opinion, the answer is almost a truism: Laughter is widely thought to reduce tension, clear the air, and probably be beneficial in many other ways. Norman Cousin's (1976) article in the New England Journal of Medicine provides a dramatic representation of popular belief—he describes how he cured himself of what might have been an otherwise fatal illness, by taking a laughing cure. After 2 weeks in a hospital, with his malady still undiagnosed and getting worse, Cousins stopped taking all drugs and checked into a hotel. He started his own treatment of vitamin C and laughter:
He sent out for Marx Brothers movies. A projector was set up in the room. “I watched a Night at the Opera twice. It's still funny. I watched Animal Crackers. I sent out for segments of old Candid Camera shows—” “And every day I watched the Marx Brothers and segments of Candid Camera, and the hours that were pain-free got longer and longer, and the more I laughed, the better I got.” (Smith, 1975, pp. 13–14).
