Talking & Laughing

In her recent documentary, Joan Rivers said the point of comedy is to face the tragedy by talking and laughing about it.  The funny lady has a serious point.

Pennebaker (1986) found that writing about emotional experiences, both the facts and the feelings, leads to improved physical health.

Bowlby (1988) told us that when mothers are able to talk about their happy or unhappy childhoods with detail, organization and coherence, bringing up the good and the bad, they were more likely to have secure attachments with their own children.

Open communication in families is linked to family resilience.  Parents talking about emotions is also related to children's social interactions and relationships with peers, and children's emotional resilience and ability to cope constructively with challenging situations.  Parents who are aware of emotions, particularly negative emotions, can talk about and accept these emotions in themselves. These parents also are aware of emotions in their children and have the ability to assist their children in understanding their emotions.

So if talking about it is so great, does timing matter?  Hobfoll (2007) writes:

• "a major reason why psychological debriefing (such as Critical Incident Stress Debriefing) has been criticized in recent years is that it serves to enhance arousal in the immediate aftermath of trauma exposure.  It has been suggested that requiring people to ventilate in the immediate aftermath of trauma can increase arousal at the very time that they are required to calm down and restore equilibrium after the traumatic experience."  

Referring to PTSD treatment, Hobfoll (2007) writes:  "Open communication and exposure therapy come later and end with a sense of relief and calm."

So what helps immediately after a traumatic event?  Studies (Holbrook, 2010; Bryant, 2009) have found that the use of morphine during trauma care may reduce the risk of developing PTSD after a serious injury. Laughter is like morphine - the body produces endorphins when we laugh that act like "natural" morphine. 

So go ahead - you have been given permission (and empirical support) to talk about it, laugh about it even.  It's not too soon to laugh about it - the sooner the better.  Cheers, to funny stories for our health in the Happy New Year - Salud!

Bryant, R.A., Creamer, M., O’Donnell, M., Silove, D., & McFarlane, A.C. (2009) A Study of the Protective Function of Acute Morphine Administration on Subsequent Posttraumatic Stress Disorder. BIOL PSYCHIATRY, 65, 438–440.

Hobfoll, S.E., Watson, P., Bell, C.C., Bryant, R.A., Brymer, M.J., Friedman, M.J., Friedman, M., Berthold, P.R., Gersons, J.T.V.M.J., Layne, C.M., Maguen, S., Neria, Y., Norwood, A.E., Pynoos, R.S., Reissman, D., Ruzek, J.I., Shalev, A.Y., Solomon, Z., Steinberg, A.M., Ursano, R.J. (2007).  Five Essential Elements of Immediate and Mid-Term Mass Trauma Intervention: Empirical Evidence. Psychiatry, 70(4), 283-306.

Holbrook, T.L., Galarneau, M.R., Dye, J.L.,  Quinn, K., & Dougherty, A.L. (2010).  Morphine Use after Combat Injury in Iraq and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. N Engl J Med, 362, 110-117.