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

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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)