Studies done at Ohio State University and elsewhere show elevated stress levels are detrimental to human health. As the economic decline continues, so too have rising levels of stress, worry, concern in some cases, fear. For those unwilling to wait until the economic turnaround to feel better, three central Ohio men with a combined century of experience in the art and science of humor have several suggestions.
One of the best known humorists in American history co-authored his first book as his marriage was crumbling and the stock market collapsed in 1929. In July, 1933, James Thurber's My Life and Hard Times series began in the New Yorker with "The Night the Bed Fell." Other stories followed, all based on his years growing up in Columbus.
Four decades later, in an interview with Alistair Cook, Thurber talked about humor in the face of hardship
"It's very hard to divorce from any other thing in life. Humor is the other side of tragedy. Humor is a serious thing." In his preface to My Life and Hard Times, Thurber described the early 1930's. Pat Shannon, director of Children's programs at the Thurber House offers this excerpt:
"He is aware that billions of dollars are stolen every year by bankers and politicians. And thousands of people are out of work."
Steve Wilson is a Columbus-based psychologist, a self described Joyologist who has been on the road with his World Laughter Tour for a quarter century.
"All the systems in the body that could harm you if the tension and the stress went on too long are reversed in the act of laughing."
Perhaps Wilson's point helps explain why Car Talk is one of the most popular programs on public radio. It is an hour of laughter, and not a thing to worry about.
Laughter might be healthy, but Wilson acknowledges, it is not always appropriate. He points to the week following 9-11, the nation was in mourning. The late night comedy programs went dark.
"There are some very anxiety-producing, scary situations. It's almost obnoxious to tell people to cheer up." "There's a time to laugh, but there's a time to cry. There's a time to worry."
And for many, those fearing or mourning the loss of a job or their home or their retirement funds or their financial security, the time to worry is now. Still, Wilson recommends taking a break if possible. Jep Hostetler is an author and speaker on humor, health and healing. He taught for 25 years at the Ohio State University College of Medicine and today is an associate professor emeritus working in the area of preventive medicine. Two humorists lift his spirits. Garrison Keillor and Bill Cosby. Like Wilson, Hostetler is a magician. He incorporates magic and -occasionally - slapstick into his public appearances. "There's a playfulness about what I do. I used to worry about it thought it would be neat to be highly scientific. But it's like Mark Twain used to say: You can dissect a frog and you know what the frog is all about but the poor thing's dead."
Thurber once responded to criticism of his humor by defending both the professor and the clown in him.
"Humor is counterbalance. Laughter need not be cut out of anything, since it improves everything."
James Thurber, from the forward to Lanterns and Lances, 1955: " humor in a living culture must not be put away in the attic with the flag, but should be flaunted, like the flag, bravely. Every time is a time for comedy in a world of tension that would languish without it."
For more on James Thurber, please go to www.thurberhouse.org.