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Branko Bokun advocates the need for humour therapy in "cancer,
psychosomatic diseases, mental disorders, crime, interpersonal and sexual
relationships".
Bokun argues in his book "Humour Therapy" that the brain is also a
gland, and that its glandular activity can be manipulated by thoughts or ideas
created by the brain’s mental activity. The author blames the mentality of the
adolescent male that pervades our society for resulting in high emotional
arousal, "inquietude, uncertainty and the fears of isolated and lonely
individuals".
Humour therapy helps us realise that both unhappiness and gloom are infectious.
"That is why the pursuit of personal happiness only acquires a realistic
meaning if it becomes the pursuit of other people’s happiness".
Bokun proposes humour courses, to help restore our inborn disposition towards
playfulness, joy of living, curiosity, exploration and flexibility. His
suggestions include:
Develop a sense of self-ridicule, for instance by talking to oneself in a
mirror;
See amusing and happy films and plays, and read humorous books and magazines;
Dedicate a corner of one’s home to toys, as the mere sight and feel of them
lessen tension.
Hang pictures of children and animals on the walls rather than staid or gloomy
ancestors;
Find a hobby, but change it the moment it is taken over-seriously. Preferably
choose a hobby that cannot go against nature’s harmonies, such as sailing or
gardening;
Have a pet and talk to it;
See life through a haze of analogies to memorised jokes and anecdotes;
Repeat three times every morning "I am not the centre of the
universe";
Remember the eleventh commandment "thou shalt not take thyself too
seriously".
Extract taken from Encyclopaedia Of Social Inventions edited by Nicholas Albery
and Valarie Yule