Humor & Health
The old man laughed out loud and joyously shook up the details of his anatomy from head to foot and ended by saying that such a laugh was money in a man’s pocket, because it cut down the doctor’s bills like everything. ~ Mark Twain, Tom Sawyer
Articles — Free to Download
Types of Humor: The Good, the Bad, and the Sometimes Ugly by Karyn Buxman
Finding The Funny by Michael Elizondo
Other Organizations and Resources Related to Humor and Healthcare
Book List - Humor and Health
By clicking on any of the links below, you will be taken to the Amazon. If you are interested, you can immediately buy the book, but clicking on any link does NOT obligate you to buy it. Simply close the link or hit the back button to return to this site.
Note that an asterisk (*) after a name indicates an AATH member author
- Adams, Patch - Gesundheit!: Bringing Good Health to You, the Medical System, and Society through Physician Service, Complementary Therapies, Humor, and Joy
(1998)
- Birger, Micheline - Health As Humor: Humor As Health (Laughing Through Uncertainty)
(2010).
- Buxman*, Karyn - What's So Funny About Diabetes?
(2012), What's So Funny About... Heart Disease?: A Creative Approach to Coping with Your Condition (2013), What's So Funny About... OR Nursing?: A Creative Approach to Celebrating Your Profession (2013)
- Charnetski, Carl J. & Brennan, Francis X. - Feeling Good Is Good for You: How Pleasure Can Boost Your Immune System and Lengthen Your Life
(2001)
- Cousins, Norman - Anatomy of an Illness: As Perceived by the Patient (Twentieth Anniversary Edition)
(1979) and Head First: The Biology of Hope and the Healing Power of the Human Spirit (1989)
- Cyra, Mike - Emergency Laughter: Stories of Humor Inside Ambulances and Operating Rooms
– Kindle Edition
- Elsagher*, Brenda - I'd Like to Buy a Bowel, Please
(2006), It's in the Bag and Under the Covers (2011)
- Freud, Sigmund - Jokes and Their Relationship to the Unconscious
(1960)
- Goodheart, Annette - Laughter Therapy: How to Laugh About Everything in Your Life That Isn't Really Funny
; (1994)
- Hunter, Charles - Healing Through Humor: Fabulous Jokes From the Happy Hunters
(2003).
- Klein*, Allen - The Healing Power of Humor: Techniques for Getting Through Loss, Setbacks, Upsets, Disappointments, Difficulties, Trials, Tribulations, and All That Not-So-Funny Stuff
(1989) and The Courage to Laugh: Humor, Hope, and Healing in the Face of Death and Dying (1998). Note that Allen has written more than two dozen uplifting books including many more since these classics were published.
- La Roche, Loretta - Relax ! Le pouvoir de l'humour pour vaincre le stress
(2008)
- Mann, David - Humor Therapy: The Art of Smiling for Others
(2015).
- Martin, Rod - The Psychology of Humor: An Integrative Approach
(2006)
- McCloud, Ace - Laughter Therapy: Discover How To Use Laughter And Humor For Healing, Stress Relief, Improved Health, Increased Emotional Wellbeing And A More Joyful And Happy Life
(2014)
- McGhee*, Paul - The Laughter Remedy: Health, Healing, and the Amuse System
(1991) and Humor: The Lighter Path to Resilience and Health (2010)
- Miller, Michael, MD - Heal Your Heart: The Positive Emotions Prescription to Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease
Kindle edition
- Peter, Laurence. & Dana, Bil - The Laughter Prescription
(1982).
- Raymond, Patricia L., MD. - Colonoscopy Is A Gas!

- Reader's Digest, Laughter the Best Medicine: A Laugh-Out-Loud Collection of our Funniest Jokes, Quotes, Stories & Cartoons (2007), Reader's Digest, Laughter Really Is The Best Medicine: America's Funniest Jokes, Stories, and Cartoons (2011) and Reader's Digest, Laughter Still Is the Best Medicine: Our Most Hilarious Jokes, Gags, and Cartoons (2014)
- Robinson, Vera - Humor and the Health Professions: The Therapeutic Use of Humor in Health Care
; (1991)
- Schwartz*, Enid. Humor in Healthcare: the Laughter Prescription (2005)
- Ulbrich, Carla - How Can You NOT Laugh at a Time Like This?: Reclaim Your Health with Humor, Creativity, and Grit
> (2011)
- Woods, Kelley, Berman, Dave & Kataria, Madan - Laughter for the Health of It
(2015)
- Wooten*, Patty - Compassionate Laughter: Jest for Your Health!
(1996)
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