Author: suegold
When you picture clowns do you picture them in a parade, at a carnival or can you see them in a children's ward of a hospital cheering up sick children? Clown pictures have been used in Dr.'s offices, Dentist's offices and hospital walls for years. They are familiar sights to young children and seem to give a calm effect. The original, or once known as hospital clowns were the Shriner clowns. There was an extensive study of laughter as therapy done.
This study keys in on the Shriners' Children's Hospitals and goes back over 75 years when polio was rampant among this nation's children. The humorous effect of a clown was introduced in to the lives of the long-term patients. Yes, I would say that clowns were on to something. What better place to show laughter and happiness than at a children's hospital. When the children were laughing the cells that destroy tumors and viruses increased. Laughter seems to provide a sort of safety valve that opens when we express pleasure to let out the T cells and B antibodies that work to reduce the tumors and viruses.
Stress hormones hold the immune system back. Laughter is one of the best medicines we have since the beginning of time. Laughter is by choice. You can choose to laugh or not to laugh. That is where the clowns come in. They help the children to make the choice to laugh. Laughter is a winning situation. There are not bad side effects of laughter. There was a study used on children who were undergoing painful procedures or who were suffering from pain expectation anxiety. They were divided into 2 groups and ask to hold their arms in cold water as long as they could. Those watching the funny videos were better able to tolerate the cold, than those who did not watch. The positive outcome from this test was that laughter allows a person to not think about aches and pains and even see pain as less intense. Yes, I would say the clowns were on to something.
There have been studies performed to measure the impact of the imagination on our ability to diminish the effects of pain. If we can imagine funny images, and visualize the resulting comedy, we are less likely to feel pain. How many adults would or could use their imagination to cut down on pain. How may adults do you think use their imagination to cut down on pain? We can learn a lot from children. If they could use their imagination like they did in the research just think how much better real clowns would be. Can you imagine a sick child in a hospital room getting a visit from a real live clown? That would be most likely better than any medicine they could be given. The laughter would be like a trip to the gym or to the park.
The workout from the laughter would exercise the upper part of the body and stimulate the little ones minds. There would be no language barrier for the children or the clowns. Everyone speaks laughter the same way. The clown has got to be a special person; a person willing to give of their time and effort to brighten the day of a sick child. I'm sure if the clown could speak to us; he would tell us that his reward is so much greater than his time and effort that he has given.
The smiles and laughter the clown hears and sees would have to be priceless. Yes, I would say again and again, "the clowns were on to something". Clowns seem to take us to happier times; we relate them to good times. It was very smart for them to take the clowns and put them where a child might be more comfortable in his or her surroundings. You see clowns in every place now, rodeos, dentist offices, doctor's offices, and hospitals. You see clowns with sad faces, funny faces, and happy faces. Can you just imagine what the children think when they see this variety. It puts their imagination to work. Why is the clown crying? Will the other clowns not play with him? Why is he so happy? Why is he making that funny face?
The author Mercy Emmanuel manages the Only Fools and Horses TV comedy memorabilia website where you can get this classic TV comedy items at low prices. You will also enjoy great lovely Only Fools and Horses comedy dvds and other humour articles on this site.
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