A recent study has explored the relationship between humor And psychological health in people who had undergone a trauma, showing that greater levels of humor connected to a reduction in post-traumatic symptoms and also to a lower difficulty regulating unpleasant emotions such as anxiety, fear or anger (Boerner, Joseph and Murphy, 2017).
Humor is one of the most important form of communication, even if difficult to codify because it has no fixed rules. By making humor we can regulate the aggression of the other, stimulating a positive reaction. Knowing how to laugh at yourself also similarly modulates the aggression that we sometimes turn against, for example with self -criticisms or devaluing thoughts. In terms of the relationship with the other or with ourselves, humor therefore establishes a real complicity: a witty joke can block the breaking of anxiety, fear or anger.
Freud first expressed himself on the “mottos of spirit” by describing them as psychological mechanisms through which psychic energy can be released otherwise repressed. The father of psychoanalysis writes: “We consider that there is a stimulus to insult a person, but this is so fought by the sense of the conveniences that insult cannot take place. (…) Suppose that the possibility of deriving a good motto of spirit from the material of words and thoughts otherwise used for the insult (…). The repressed purpose (…) can obtain sufficient strength to overcome inhibition. The motto of spirit becomes possible and the pleasure produced is not only that produced by the motto of spirit, it is incomparably greater “ (Freud, 1905, p. 144).
All this has its own consideration also on a psycho-biological level, since humor is associated with the liberation of substances such as beta-endorphins, known for their analgesic effect, acting as a stress moderator. A recent study by Matsushima and collaborators (2017) sees the sense of humor associated with variations in blood pressure, identifying it as one of the most effective communication strategies in generating physical and psychological well -being.
Humor is configured as a real face of frontaling (coping) strategy) of unpleasant emotional experiences and problematic situations of every day (especially those that cannot be changed): to grasp the comic elements of a situation poses a distance between oneself and the problem that reduces the experiences of anxiety, frustration and impotence, modifying the perception of the difficulties we are experiencing. Let’s think about what powerful effect the use of self-irony has in a conflictual relationship!
But be careful not to confuse humor with irony or let alone with sarcasm: If irony presupposes the ability to resolve the ambiguity or the “paradox” at the base of the joke, sarcasm is instead used alone one of the interlocutors to free elements of socially unacceptable aggression, based on an imbalance that can only expand the relational divergence.
Humor is distinguished both from irony and from sarcasm for its subtle but fundamental peculiarity: being founded on the compassionThe cum-passo Latin, the ability to “feel together”. Making humor presupposes the unfolding of a double feeling, the indignation and compassion, which come together and confuse themselves to generate a unique and complex experience, as Pirandello has argued well in one of his essay dedicated to the theme.
Many psychologists have scientifically studied the differences between the ways of laughing and making people laugh that have so far been outlined: Martin and his collaborators (2003), for example, described four types of “humor” (“self-enhancing”, “affiliates”, “aggressive” and “self-defeating”), of which only the first two forms (comparable to the humor described above) described) They connected to greater psychological health and relational well -being, unlike the others, more similar to what I described as “irony” and “sarcasm”.
Humor, as a coping strategy of painful states, is therefore characterized by all those aspects that distinguish, both by theoretical inspiration and for clinical practice, the approaches of the Third generation of cognitive-behavioral therapy: they identify in acceptance and mindfulness the election strategies to operate change and implement psychological well -being, and find in the exercise of the “compassion” the way to restore a healthy relationship with oneself and with others.
Bibliographic references
Boerner, M., Joseph, S., Murphy, D. (2017). The Association Bethaeen Sense of Humour and Trauma-Related Mental Health Outcomes: Two Explorator Studies. Journal of Loss and Trauma.
Martin, Ra, Puhlik-Dris, P., Larsen, G., Gray, J., Weir, K. (2003). Individual Differences in Use of Humor and Their Relation to Psychological Well-Boing: Development of the Humor Styles Questionnaire. Journal of Research in Personality, 37, 48-75.
Matsushima, E. (2017). Presentation of Coping Strategies Associated With Physical and Mental Health During Health Check-ups. Community Mental Health Journal, 53, 3, pp. 297-305.
Gilbert, P. (2010). Compassion Focused Therapy: Distinctive features. London: Routledge.
Harris, r. (2010). The Happiness Trap: Stop Struggling, Start Living. London: Robinson. trad. it. Presti, g. (edited by), The trap of happiness. How to stop tormenting and starting to live. Trento: Erickson Study Center.
Freud, S. (1972) The motto of spirit and his relationship with the unconscioustr. it. In works, vol. 5, Boringhieri, Turin.
Pirandello, L. (1986) Humor, Mondadori, Milan.
