ABSTRACT
Humor gains its intensity primarily through relevancy, the listener's ability to relate to the message. If the elderly are left unchallenged, the intensity of their sense of humor and the good it brings will fade to naught. For every handicapped individual, there's a caregiver equally in need of respite through laughter. It's a universal language open to the handicapped, their caregivers, and the lucky ones in society. Being humorless and a total pain in the neck is uncommendable, but not unconstitutional. Many patients, particularly the elderly, complain that physicians and their associates are humorless souls acting like a bunch of cold fish. Although modern laughter therapy encourages humor, it alone is not the total answer, nor in some cases even a partial answer, to all of the ills of man. The rational individual can respond to genuine humor and be favorably affected by laugh therapy.
