Good laugh may be medicine for anger

Trump. Climate change. Liberals. Conservatives. Socialists. Capitalists.

Bet you don’t think any of these charged-up words are funny, but maybe you should.

Recently I heard a segment on NPR’s Morning Edition connecting anger and humor, part of a series called, “The Other Side of Anger.” I found it familiar to my upbringing and how I’ve been conditioned to cope with the stresses of life.

“All comedy starts with anger,” the NPR piece quotes Jerry Seinfeld saying, before delving into how stand-up comedy turns anger into laughter. George Carlin, Chris Rock, Mo Amer, Phyllis Diller and Sandra Bernard are all included in the report, making it both funny and entertaining.

Of course, it’s not just anger that generates laughs. It’s also pain, insecurity and other human frailties. Turns out that one of the most therapeutic approaches we can take in dealing with our hang-ups is laughter.

My brother Don, a psychiatrist by trade and columnist by dark of night, has written about what he calls “insensitivity therapy,” in which he encourages people to laugh at their problems. One story he has told among our family but not in print (leaving me to tell the dirty little secrets) is of his daughter as a teenager.

She was facing a big school day with a big zit on her face. She was stressing out over it, and as Don watched his wife at the breakfast table trying to calm her down — it’s not that bad; we’ll get it covered up and nobody will notice; etc. — Don interrupted.

With exaggerated concern, he screamed out that it was the biggest pimple he’d ever seen, that it would never go away and she’d never be able to go out in public again — until his stunned daughter finally laughed.

Now, I’m not saying that’s a good approach; I don’t even know if his daughter’s ever forgiven him. Plus, I would imagine that every other serious therapist would decry the insensitivity to his approach. But it does demonstrate how laughter can be a remedy for our everyday woes and worries.

Of course, there are limits to humor. Cruelty is not good humor. Blackface, gender-based harassment, and bullying are three things that used to be funny to the privileged crowds, but they’re certainly not funny to those targeted to be the butt of the jokes.

My father, a minister his entire adult life, used to apply humor to win over people, almost to a fault. I heard him say things in jest that were wholly inappropriate, especially for people’s stereotypical perception of how a preacher should behave, but he got away with it anyway.

“It’s amazing what you can get away with when people know you love them,” I heard him say at least once, and he demonstrated that just about every day. But there was more to it than that. He would tease you, but he was never mean-spirited about it, and somehow it made you feel special in a good way. He let his humor bear witness to his deep and abiding faith in people and in God.

Human emotions are complicated, but I suppose they’re all related. When it comes to pain, anger and frustration, a good laugh might just be the best medicine.

Tom McDonald is editor of the New Mexico Community News Exchange. Contact him at:

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