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The Power of Humor in Healthcare
Joking and laughing does a lot more than just lighten the mood
By the end of my first trimester, all the nurses at the local emergency room knew my name. Thanks to a four-month bout of hyperemesis gravidarum — basically, intense and frequent nausea and vomiting during pregnancy — I had wound up at the hospital for fluids about once a week for a whole summer. I definitely didn’t feel like having fun, but I did want to feel less alone (and, admittedly, to woo the person responsible for stopping my vomiting). Making a joke felt like a reflex.
“I should just rent a room here,” I told the kind-eyed RN as she struggled to find a vein for the IV. She looked up from my arm, chuckled, and quipped back a joke about how insurance probably wouldn’t cover that lengthy of a stay. Before I knew it, the IV was in. Maybe it was the cold saline, but something about that exchange brought me back to myself, reminding me that even in the trenches of a really tough situation, it was possible to connect — and maybe even to feel a bit better.
If you’ve ever erupted into giggles simply because someone was laughing, you know laughter isn’t just evidence of joy; it can also be a catalyst to a good mood. But a healthy dose of wit doesn’t just lift spirits. Science suggests that certain kinds of humor — from both healthcare providers and patients — can actually facilitate healing in the body.
James Doty, MD, clinical professor of neurosurgery at Stanford University School of Medicine and founder of the Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education, frequently incorporates humor in his patient interactions. He sees thoughtful, appropriate joking in health care settings as a potential on-ramp to compassion, which he says can have profound effects on a patient’s health.
“I see people in the most dire situations with very serious conditions from which they might die, which is incredibly stressful,” he says. “When you can bring a lightness and use humor to communicate, it can have a huge calming effect. In many ways, it’s a form of compassion-giving, because it allows you to be truly present and connect.”
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