Health Healing and Amuse System: Humor As Survival Training

by McGhee, Paul

• ISBN13: 9780787257972
• ISBN10: 0787257974
• Edition: 3rd
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1999-03-01
• Publisher: Kendall Hunt Pub Co

Table of Contents

Introduction	x
Acquired Amusement Deficiency Syndrome (AADS)	xi
Purpose of the 8-Step Program	xii
Your Sense of Humor Is a Set of Skills	xiii
Attitudinal	xiii
Intellectual	xiii
Social	xiv
Emotional	xiv
Expressive	xiv
Is It Too Late to Improve Your Sense of Humor?	xiv
Overview of the Book	xvi
Part I: The Work and Health Benefits of Your Amuse System	xvi
Part II: The Steps	xvi
The Homeplay	xvii
The Pre-Test and Post-Test	xviii
Completing the 8-Step Program as a Group	xviii
Who Will Benefit from the 8-Step Program?	xix
Nurturing Your Children's Sense of Humor	xx
Part I: Why Improve Your Sense of Humor? The Work and Health Benefits of Your Amuse System	1	(87)
Humor in the Workplace: Putting Fun to Work	2	(43)
Growing Job Dissatisfaction	2	(1)
A New Kind of Leadership	3	(1)
The Importance of Making Work Fun	4	(4)
What Makes a Job Fun?	6	(1)
Changing Corporate Perceptions of the Value of Humor	7	(1)
Know When to Put Your Toys Away	7	(1)
The Net Effect: Humor and Fun Increase Productivity	8	(2)
How Humor Boosts the Bottom Line	10	(21)
Increased Ability to Cope with Change	10	(1)
Reduced Stress	11	(6)
Improved Morale	17	(1)
Energized Employees	18	(1)
Increased Creativity	19	(2)
Team Building	21	(1)
Improved Communication	22	(7)
Customer Service	29	(2)
Humor as a Management Tool	31	(7)
Motivating Employees	33	(1)
Continuing Education/Training	34	(1)
Managing Conflicts	34	(1)
Poking Fun at Yourself	35	(1)
Destructive Humor	36	(2)
Pioneers in Putting Humor to Work: Southwest Airlines	38	(1)
How to Build Humor and Fun into the Workplace	39	(5)
Building the Humor Skills of Your Employees	44	(1)
Humor and Physical Health	45	(25)
How Humor Contributes to Physical Health	46	(10)
Muscle Relaxation	46	(1)
Reduction of Stress Hormones	47	(1)
Immune System Enhancement	47	(4)
Pain Reduction	51	(3)
Cardiac Exercise	54	(1)
Other Benefits	54	(2)
Perceived Health	56	(1)
Psychoneuroimmunology and Humor	56	(7)
Emotion: The Key to the Mind's Influence on Health	57	(2)
Negative Health Influences	59	(2)
Positive Health Influences	61	(2)
Do People with a Good Sense of Humor Get Sick Less Often?	63	(1)
The Humor-in-Hospitals Movement	64	(6)
Types of Hospital Humor Programs	65	(2)
Impact on Patient Outcomes	67	(3)
Humor and Mental/Emotional Health: The Natural Stress Remedy	70	(18)
What Evidence Is There that Humor Helps You Cope?	70	(18)
Coping with Cancer	72	(1)
Hospital Humor	73	(2)
Humor in Emergency and Disaster Situations	75	(5)
Concentration/POW Camps	80	(3)
Humor and War	83	(3)
Humor and a Healthy Marriage	86	(2)
Part II: The Steps
Step 1: A. Surround Yourself with Humor You Enjoy
B. Determine the Nature of Your Sense of Humor	88	(15)
Take the Sense of Humor Pre-Test	88	(1)
Surround Yourself with Humor You Enjoy	89	(1)
Determine the Nature or Your Sense of Humor	90	(1)
Your Sense of Humor Is Unique	90	(1)
Analyze Your Past and Present Humor Tastes	91	(2)
Humor Log Exercises	92	(1)
How Do You Show You Have a Good Sense of Humor?	93	(3)
Enjoyment of Others' Humor	94	(1)
Initiating Humor	94	(1)
Finding Humor in Everyday Life	95	(1)
Laughing at Yourself	95	(1)
Finding/Creating Humor in the Midst of Stress	96	(1)
Development of Your Sense of Humor	96	(3)
Humor Log Exercises: Your Early Sense of Humor	96	(1)
Humor Log Exercises: Early Influences	97	(1)
Humor Log Exercises: Current Influences	98	(1)
Group Session	99	(3)
Homeplay	102	(1)
Step 2: Learn to Adopt a Playful Attitude Overcome Terminal Seriousness	103	(20)
A Playful Attitude: The Basic Foundation for Your Sense of Humor	104	(1)
The Meaning of a Playful Attitude	105	(1)
Why Is a Playful Attitude the Foundation for Your Sense of Humor?	106	(1)
Does Play Have an Important Biological Function?	107	(3)
Animal Play	107	(1)
Children's Play	108	(2)
Play and Work	110	(1)
Play and Sports	111	(1)
Living Your Life as Play	112	(2)
Why Do We Become Less Playful During Adulthood?	114	(2)
Physical Versus Mental Play	116	(1)
Using Props to Induce a Playful Attitude	116	(1)
Unexpected Rewards from Cultivating a Playful Attitude	117	(1)
Humor Log Exercises	118	(2)
On Play and a Playful Attitude	118	(1)
Work and Play	118	(1)
Current Playfulness	119	(1)
Early Development and Influences	119	(1)
Group Session	120	(1)
Homeplay	121	(2)
Step 3: A. Laugh More Often and More Heartily
B. Begin Telling Jokes and Funny Stories	123	(21)
Laugh More Often and More Heartily	124	(1)
Laughter and Emotional Expression	125	(3)
Humor Log Exercises	128	(1)
On Laughter	128	(1)
Current Laughter	128	(1)
Early Development and Influences	129	(1)
Psychoneuroimmunology and Laughter	129	(2)
Laughter and Optimism	131	(1)
Humor Log Exercises	132	(1)
On Optimism	132	(1)
Current Optimism	133	(1)
Early Development and Influences	133	(1)
Begin Telling Jokes and Funny Stories	133	(6)
Humor Log Exercises	139	(1)
On Joke/Story Telling	139	(1)
Current Joke/Story Telling	139	(1)
Early Development and Influences	139	(1)
Group Session	140	(2)
Homeplay	142	(2)
Laughter	142	(1)
Optimism	142	(1)
Joke Telling	143	(1)
Step 4: Play with Language Puns and Other Verbal Humor	144	(27)
Puns: The Foundation for Your Verbal Sense of Humor	146	(2)
Types of Puns	148	(1)
How to Develop Your Ability to Create Puns and Other Verbal Humor	149	(17)
An Exercise in Multiple Meanings	149	(1)
Look for Ambiguity in Everyday Conversations	150	(2)
Look for Humor in Newspaper Headlines	152	(1)
Look for Word Play on Public Signs	153	(1)
Daffynitions	153	(2)
Practice Generating Your Own Punchlines	155	(2)
Exaggeration	157	(2)
Finding Connections Between Apparently Unrelated Terms	159	(1)
Nonsense and Opposites	160	(2)
Create Your Own Captions	162	(1)
Other Verbal Humor Techniques	163	(2)
Conversation-Between-Two-Objects Game	165	(1)
Humor Log Exercises	166	(1)
On Play with Language	166	(1)
Current Verbal Sense of Humor	166	(1)
Early Development and Influences	166	(1)
Group Session	167	(2)
Homeplay	169	(2)
Step 5: Find Humor in Everyday Life	171	(24)
What Is a Humorous Perspective?	173	(4)
Laughing with and Laughing at Others	177	(2)
Getting Started	179	(4)
Put Up ``What's Funny About This?'' Reminders	179	(1)
Ask Friends and Colleagues About the Humor They See	180	(1)
Write it Down	180	(1)
Share the Humor You Observe	181	(1)
Pretend You're Allan Funt	182	(1)
Remember that Your View of What's Funny Is Just as Valid as the Next Person's	183	(1)
What Are You Looking For?	183	(2)
Coincidences	183	(1)
Irony	184	(1)
Rigidity of Behavior	185	(1)
Continue Looking for Unintended Verbal Humor	185	(4)
Humor Log Exercises	189	(3)
On Seeing the Funny Side of Life	189	(1)
Humor and Creativity	190	(1)
Current Ability to Find Humor in Everyday Life	190	(1)
Early Development and Influences	191	(1)
Group Session	192	(1)
Homeplay	193	(2)
Step 6: Take Yourself Lightly Laugh at Yourself	195	(19)
What Prevents You From Laughing at Yourself?	195	(2)
We Take Ourselves Too Seriously!	197	(1)
What Does it Mean to Take Yourself Lightly?	198	(1)
Mastery and Laughing at Yourself	199	(3)
Is Laughing at Yourself the Same as Putting Yourself Down	202	(1)
Can You Laugh When You're the Butt of the Joke?	203	(1)
How to Start Laughing at Yourself	203	(3)
Make a List of Things You Don't Like About Yourself	203	(1)
Divide the List into ``Heavy'' and Minor Items, and into Things You Can and Cannot Change	203	(1)
Admit Your Weaknesses and Self-Dislikes	204	(1)
Share One Item on Your List with Someone Every Day, Starting with Minor Items. Don't Try to Joke About It	204	(1)
Begin Sharing Your Blunders, Mistakes, and Embarrassing Experiences	205	(1)
Learn a Few Self-Disparaging Jokes	205	(1)
Begin Joking About Your Blunders and Things You Don't Like About Yourself	206	(1)
Additional Helpful Suggestions	206	(3)
Recognize That No One Is Perfect	207	(1)
Have a Planned Funny Response for Embarrassing Moments	207	(1)
Hang Around People Who Are Good at Laughing at Themselves	208	(1)
Exaggerate!	208	(1)
Humor Log Exercises	209	(2)
On Laughing at Yourself	209	(1)
Current Ability to Laugh at Yourself	209	(1)
Early Development and Influences	210	(1)
Group Session	211	(2)
Homeplay	213	(1)
Step 7: Find Humor in the Midst of Stress	214	(31)
Your Sense of Humor: The Secret Ingredient for Making Lemonade	215	(1)
We've All Had Days Like This	216	(2)
Does Stress Happen to You? Or Do You Create It?	218	(1)
Humor Helps You Overcome the Law of Psychological Gravity	218	(1)
Bounce-Back-Ability	219	(1)
The Importance of Learning to Actively Use Humor	220	(1)
Humor as Verbal Aikido	220	(1)
How Does Your Sense of Humor Help You Cope with Stress?	221	(7)
Relaxation	221	(1)
Emotional Release	222	(1)
Increased Energy/Decreased Burnout	223	(1)
Maintenance of Perspective	223	(1)
Substitution of a Positive Mood for a Negative One	224	(2)
Increased Sense of Control	226	(1)
Distraction	227	(1)
How to Practice Finding Humor in the Midst of Stress	228	(11)
Seek Out Friends Who Are Good at Finding Humor Under Stress	229	(1)
Look for the Light Side of Other People's Problems (Do Not Tell Them!)	229	(1)
Observe How Other People Use Humor to Cope with Stress	229	(1)
Look for Humor in Stressful Situations in Your Own Past	230	(1)
Look for Tomorrow's Humor in Today's Crises	230	(1)
Make a List of Minor Hassles and Problems that You Encounter on a Typical Day. Start Looking for Humor in These Situations	231	(1)
Keep a ``Lighten-Up!'' Prop Handy	231	(1)
Use Funny Visual Imagery	232	(1)
Practice Seeing the Glass Half Full, Instead of Half-Empty	233	(1)
Remind Yourself that Something Good Often Comes Out of a Bad Situation	234	(1)
Exaggerate Your Problems!	235	(1)
Have a Planned Playful Reaction to Fall Back On	235	(3)
Additional Suggestions	238	(1)
Humor Log Exercises	239	(3)
On Using Humor to Cope	239	(1)
Current Ability to Find Humor in the Midst of Stress	240	(1)
Early Development and Influences	241	(1)
Group Session	242	(1)
Homeplay	243	(2)
Step 8: Integration of Steps 1-7. Using Humor to Survive and Cope	245	(10)
Putting It All Together	245	(1)
Humor Log Exercises	246	(3)
Assessment of Your Progress	246	(3)
Group Session	249	(2)
Homeplay	251	(4)
Take the Sense of Humor Post-Test	251	(1)
Homeplay for the Months Ahead	251	(4)
Footnotes	255	(12)
Pre-Test	267	(4)
Post-Test	271