Volume 5, Issue #1                                                                            Spring, 2001

"He who laughs, lasts."

                 By Vicki Woschnick

What is it that makes people laugh?  Surely there is no guaranteed method to elicit laughter.  Humor can lurk in something as simple as a knowing glance between friends or as complex as the flawless timing of a veteran comedian.  How we laugh or why we laugh is, at best, enigmatic; however, there is growing evidence that suggests because we laugh we are giving ourselves physical and psychological benefits that will far outlast any punch line.

According to medical and mental health experts that study the mind-body connection in the field of psychoneuroimmunology, there are numerous case studies that demonstrate how patients with serious illnesses have been able to arrest, reduce, or in some rare instances eradicate terminal diseases through maintenance of a positive attitude.  Laughter therapist Edna Junkins explains that learning to laugh at ourselves and our situations – even in the most adverse conditions – allows humor to “shift our perspective and problems shrink to a manageable size.  We don’t diminish importance, but we are less overwhelmed.”  While humor offers a certain degree of relief from the pain and tension associated with physical illness, it is only one aspect of the constructive use of laughter.  Laughter has also been proven effective in reducing stress brought on by daily events, particularly those in connection with the work place.

Deadlines.  Meetings.  Phone calls.  Periods of seemingly endless interruption.  All workers have or experience these things routinely and, likewise, carry the stress produced by them.  If humor is a natural release that leads to increased mental health and productivity, why aren’t conference rooms and office buildings ringing with laughter?  The answer has little to do with workers’ inability to crack a joke, and is more likely associated with the tacit “rule” of the American work ethic:  If you are having fun, you can’t be working.  Translating that adage into action often equates to dealing with everyone and everything in a literal manner so as to be “taken seriously.”  While there are certainly work situations that demand decorum, the Center for Behavioral Health cautions that the all-consuming seriousness workers strive for on the job is not necessarily a worthy goal.  It breeds anxiety by “demanding that [they] give meaning to mystery, and leave no question unanswered” thereby placing an unduly large emphasis on constant productivity.

Fortunately, this “nose to the grindstone” approach to work is being challenged.  The physical benefits of laughter are well documented.  A good laugh can lower blood pressure, exercise the lungs, and increase the production of endorphins (the brain’s organic pain killer.)  However, laughter’s positive psychological corollaries have not undergone the same extensive research until recently.  As attention paid to this area has increased, so too has its credibility.  And, many industries have taken notice.  Why has humor become an asset to the work place?  According to Dr. Steven M. Sultanoff, President of the American Association for Therapeutic Humor, the answer is multi-faceted:

¨       Humor facilitates communication by providing a non-threatening medium through which an employee or employer can communicate with others.

¨       Humor builds relationships among co-workers who share “office jokes” as a means of taking the seriousness of work lightly.

¨       Humor reduces stress through making workers feel good.  No one can feel good and feel stressed simultaneously.

¨       Humor provides perspective by making workers look at the big picture, taking the focus off the demanding minutia.

¨       Humor promotes attendance and energizes a work place through inviting moments wherein workers can “let go” of built up anger and anxiety.

Workers can incorporate humor into their work place by adopting a healthy new maxim:  Take your job seriously and yourself lightly.  This is not to suggest that there are no parameters for job related mirth.  Humor should never distract from the business at hand, be used in blatant disregard of appropriate feedback or criticism, be insensitive, sarcastic or hurtful to others.  Keeping that in mind, humorforyourhealth.com has posted five tips that will help workers relax and recharge with smiles, fun and laughter:

1.                  LIGHTEN UP – Things can only be as serious as you want to make them.

2.                  LET GO OF YOUR NEED FOR CONTROL – You cannot be in charge of everything and everybody at all times.

3.                  EMBRACE CHANGE – It is a constant.  Work with it.

4.                  BE SPONTANEOUS – Be willing to break from your routine.

5.                  SMILE – It is the curve that sets everything straight.

Laughter, then, is paramount on the job and a sense of humor is rapidly distinguishing itself as a choice attribute of desired employees.  Levity is key in sustaining a positive daily attitude that leads to results similar to or in excess of those once thought achievable only through solemn labor and toil.  Apparently, the unwitting joke has been on us.

Saving Face 

(Or being humble enough to be like everyone else)

Self-esteem is the estimate of how you feel about yourself.  A person with positive self-esteem overall feels confident, capable and that they are a generally good person. They get along well with people who are different than they are and believe they more or less fit in with other people.  For people with positive self-esteem, feeling good about oneself is tempered by the realization that they may be misunderstand, they do at times unintentionally hurt others, and fall short.  Positive self-esteem goes hand in hand with having a positive frame of mind. When a person feels good about her or himself, on the whole, and then has problems or mood changes, s/he recognizes the difficulty and can get help.  Positive self-esteem recognizes that “stuff happens” to all of us, and when it does, the best remedy is to turn to the resources of family, friends, colleagues, religious affiliations and workplace services to talk about, and get advice on how to address the problem.

However, for many people it is very hard to admit that there is a problem or to get help, even when those problems are no fault of their own.  For instance, when someone has an auto accident, it is common to have a stress reaction.  A stress reaction is the body’s way of accommodating the trauma.  Nevertheless, many people don’t talk about their thoughts and feelings. They try to act like the accident didn’t affect them.  Or another example, many people suffer with low mood and do not seek out professional help when depression is not only a leading cause of absenteeism from work, but can be very successfully treated.   

There are many reasons that people refuse to get needed support and assistance, but the leading reason is commonly what we call “Saving Face.”  Saving face is a way that people protect themselves from looking bad to other people.  What they do to protect themselves may vary from individual to individual and no one wants to be embarrassed, but some people go to unreasonable lengths to save-face by avoiding people or help, or by overly-exaggerating the opposite of how they genuinely feel inside.   Saving face is similar in some respects to an unhealthy kind of pride, and the person who is saving face may lack self-confidence because s/he prevents himself from fully recognizing his limitations and accepting them.  For these people there is a feeling that they would be (too) embarrassed if someone else saw them as not able to handle the problem.  They might be seen as less competent or not up to par. “I ought to take care of it myself” is a common thought and if they don’t, there is something wrong with them. Saving face is different than being responsible.  We are all responsible for our actions and behaviors, but at times, being responsible means admitting when we fall short and turning to others for help when we need to.  Some people believe they not only need to take care of the problem, but should do so independently.  “I don’t want to lean on any one else.”  Ultimately, we all need to depend on others and at some times we need them more. 

When people do not seek other people when they are in trauma or pain, or need assistance, they defy the body’s natural resources to heal.  What often happens is that the problem gets worse and it becomes harder and harder for the individual to admit that things are going wrong.

Typically, people need the following four ingredients in order to seek assistance.

·         Trust that they will be taken seriously and the conversation will remain private and confidential.

·         Belief that the other can help, if you want specific solutions,  or if you simply want someone to listen – that they will do that without interjecting advice or opinions.

·         Freedom from fear of shame or embarrassment that people experience when they have a need.

·         Courage enough to admit their human limitations.

When a person seeks assistance, either from a friend or professional s/he has to have confidence that what they say will not be relayed to anyone else.  For the staff of the Employee Assistant Program, confidentiality is more than the honor system.  It is central to the work of counseling in a professional relationship.

Second, people seek assistance from those whom they think can help.  Someone will confide in a friend because they believe s/he will listen and because they have been faithful, or fair or caring in the past.  A daughter tells her mom about a problem to get her input from experience.  Parents turn to kids later in life for support and the warmth of family life out of a long history of trust.  People seek out counselors to have a place to sort out their thoughts, consider their choices and what prevents them from either coming to terms with life circumstance, or being able to get unstuck.

Third, people turn to people that they believe will themselves have not just capability, but enough humility to recognize their own vulnerability.  You remember the movie Titantic?  The sinking of a ship, and the death of over a thousand people, is a great equalizer isn’t it?  Whether aristocrat or pauper, it is only when we realize that no matter how smart, how rich, or how much “power” we have in our work position or role, in the end we really are all the same.   We all have aspirations, hopes, frustrations, disappointments, people we need, joys and buffeted dreams.  Parents age and require care, children get in to trouble and parents must figure out what to do, our mood level changes with circumstance and sometimes with age.  Illness effects us or a close friend.  It is a complicated world.  A person with positive self-esteem expects that s/he will mess things up or embarrass themselves at times.  Someone with positive self-esteem also knows that they can rebound and they are aware that shortcomings do not mean they stand out, only that they are human.  

Fourth, courage.   The biggest obstacle to getting help is taking the first step. Sometimes getting help seems like it adds insult to injury – there is the problem and then the embarrassment of admitting you have a problem.  Ironically, the people who seek out someone to talk with, are one step ahead, because they have made a realistic assessment of their needs and have the courage to move forward. 

The staff of the employee assistance Program varies in age, background and professional interests.  If you would like to know more about the Employee Assistance Program staff members you can access information on the EAP website:

http://www.uwosh.edu/eap/

If you would like to make an appointment with any one staff member in particular, call: 424-1078 and request an EAP appointment with that person.

Feeling hopeless can be bad for your health.  Eric Nagourney reports for the New York Times, on a study from the University of Michigan published in the journal “Hypertension.” The research suggests that “…people suffering persistent periods of hopelessness may be at greater risk for hypertension…”   It may be worth your investment now to address those feelings of hopelessness, because in doing so you could buy the time of a healthy future.

(Nagourney, Eric. “When Despair Invades the Blood Vessels”. NY Times. 2/29/2000.)

Wellness Fair!!!!

March 7^th

11:00 –  2:00 PM