Helpful Humor for Illness
Neurological Illness and the Healing Power of Humor
No matter what your medical condition, you need to use humor to get through the stressful times. Find ways to add a little laughter to lighten your load.
It's important to stay in touch with your sense of humor when dealing with a neurological illness. Whether patient or caretaker, stress and depression can take over and outshine the positive aspects of life. Although having a neurological disorder is difficult, it can often be lightened by humor. Check out 2 different, accessible ways to tickle your funny bone:
Take a Look at Everyday Humor
The best place to observe lightheartedness is in the everyday routine. Kids make you laugh? Focus on their endearing comments or actions. You can partake in this at the grocery store, restaurants, or with your own children wherever you may be. A child's honest remarks can really tickle you and remind you that there is still humor in life. Another source of homespun humor is recapping office sillyness. Do you work? Even if not currently employed, focus in on your spouse's, child's, friend's, or your own previous office fodder. A lot of drama can go on at work, and when replayed at home, can actually be quite humorous. Finally, pets can always provide comedy relief. A cat can do the darndest things....
Humorous TV/ Movies/ Performances
A simple way to access your lighter side is to watch humor in action. How many times do you find yourself turning to the same comedy reruns to lift your spirits? There's a reason: humor is healing. Neurological illness is stressful and comedy can relieve that stress. Seek out funny shows (Seinfeld, Bernie Mac, All in the Family), movies (Wedding Crashers, Rat Race), and if able, live performances: comedy clubs are a good source of tension relief. Even if your condition limits you, if you can watch a half-hour situation comedy or a stand-up comedy routine on tv, you have the ability to lift your spirits. Isn't that the first step to taking emotional charge of your neurological illness?
***For related neurological information, check out the Neurological ARTICLE INDEX and Blog.
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