Abstract
Articles in both the lay and professional literature have extolled the virtues of humor, many giving the mpression that the health benefits of humor are well documented by the scientific and medical community.The concept that humor or laughter can be therapeutic goes back to biblical times and this belief has received varying levels of support from the scientific community at different points in its history. urrent research indicates that using humor is well accepted by the public and is frequently used as a oping mechanism. However, the scientific evidence of the benefits of using humor on various health related outcomes still leaves many questions unanswered.
Disciplines
Alternative and Complementary Medicine | Nursing | Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing
Recommended Repository Citation
Bennett, Mary Payne and Lengacher, Cecile A.. (2006). Humor and Laughter May Influence Health. [Part] I. History and Background. eCAM, 3 (1), 61-63.
Original Publication URL: doi:10.1093/ecam/nek015
Available at:
https://digitalcommons.wku.edu/nurs_fac_pub/1
Included in
Alternative and Complementary Medicine Commons, Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing Commons
Comments
© The Author (2006). Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. The online version of this article has been published under an open access model. Users are entitled to use, reproduce, disseminate, or display the open access version of this article for non-commercial purposes provided that: the original authorship is properly and fully attributed; the Journal and Oxford University Press are attributed as the original place of publication with the correct citation details given; if an article is subsequently reproduced or disseminated not in its entirety but only in part or as a derivative work this must be clearly indicated. For commercial re-use, please contact journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org doi:10.1093/ecam/nek015