1. Distress Your Life Through Humor/Laughter
Ed Seagle, CSU, Chico
Mike Martin, LearningChange

2. AMERICA’S #1 HEALTH PROBLEM
Time magazine's June 6, 1983 cover story called stress "The Epidemic of the Eighties" and referred to it as our leading health problem; there can be little doubt that the situation has progressively worsened since then. Numerous surveys confirm that adult Americans perceive they are under much more stress than a decade or two ago. A 1996 Prevention magazine survey found that almost 75% feel they have "great stress" one day a week with one out of three indicating they feel this way more than twice a week. In the same 1983 survey only 55% said they felt under great stress on a weekly basis. It has been estimated that percent of all visits to primary care physicians are for stress related problems.

3. STRESS STATISTICS
A 1996 Prevention magazine survey found that almost 75% feel they have “great stress” one day a week with one out of three indicating they feel this way more than twice a week.
The 2000 annual “Attitudes In The American Workplace VI” Gallup Poll found that:
80% of workers feel stress on the job, nearly half say they need help in learning how to manage stress and 42% say their coworkers need such help;
14% of respondents had felt like striking a coworker in the past year, but didn’t;
25% have felt like screaming or shouting because of job stress, 10% are concerned about an individual at work they fear could become violent;
9% are aware of an assault or violent act in their workplace and 18% had experienced some sort of threat or verbal intimidation in the past year.
2000 Integra Survey similarly reported that:
65% of workers said that workplace stress had caused difficulties and more than 10% described these as having major effects;
10% said they work in an atmosphere where physical violence has occurred because of job stress and in this group, 42% report that yelling and other verbal abuse is common;
19% or almost one in five respondents had quit a previous position because of job stress and nearly on in four have been driven to tears because of workplace stress;
12% had called in sick because of job stress.
According to a survey of 800,000 workers in over 300 companies, the number of employees calling in sick because of stress tripled from An estimated 1 million workers are absent everyday due to stress.
Job stress is also very costly with a price tag for U.S. industry estimated at over $300 billion annually as a result of accidents, absenteeism, employee turnover, diminished productivity, medical, legal and insurance cost.

4. STRESS INFORMATION
Imagine you are a caveman out innocently picking berries when suddenly you come nose to nose with a fire breathing sabor tooth tiger. While you were simply gathering, the tiger was actually hunting, and the sight of you makes his mouth water.
The flight or fight response, also called the "acute stress response", was first described by Walter Cannon in the year of The theory states that animals react to threats with a general discharge of the sympathetic nervous system. The response was later recognized as the first stage of a general adaptation syndrome that regulates stress responses among vertebrates and other organisms. In layman's terms, an animal has two options when faced with danger. They can either face the threat ("fight"), or they can avoid the threat ("flight").

5. Present Day Flight or Fight
FLASH FORWARD to the present day. Despite the huge amount of technological change in the ensuing 25,000 years, you are walking around with essentially the same set of internal body parts as that of the caveman. At this very moment you're in the break room at work, hunting for coffee and gathering donuts. Your boss is out hunting too. But guess what? He's hunting for you. 
As you gulp down your third cup of Java you hear your boss say those dreaded words: "Could I see you for a moment in my office, please?" At the sight of the dragon, er, uh...your boss...your hypothalamus sends a message to your adrenal glands and within seconds your body summons all the same powers that your stone-age ancestor needed to fight a dragon.
You can almost feel your blood pressure soar as you take the long walk down the hall to your boss's office. You remember a rumor you heard about an upcoming round of layoffs. Now your mind is racing, your heart is pumping, your blood pressure is soaring, your mouth dries up, your hands feel cold and clammy, your forehead is perspiring and you may even feel a sudden urge to go (to the bathroom). As you imagine your boss firing you, the caveman inside of you wants to come out. Maybe you'd like to run and hide or maybe you'd like to punch your boss in the nose, but you can't do either. Welcome to the modern era.

6. STRESS INFORMATION
Stress is arousal of mind and body in response to demands made on them.
A stressor is any demand on mind or body.
A distressor is any demand resulting in harm to mind or body.
Distress is too much or too little arousal, resulting in harm to mind or body.
Positive stress is helpful arousal-arousal that promotes health, energy, satisfaction, and peak performance.

7. PROFESSIONAL STRESS
Why do we as recreation professionals have a reason to get stressed?
What causes it?
What is the affect of it?

8. What Are Your Stress Points?
Where do you hold you stress?
Head
Jaw
Shoulders
Neck
Lower back
Chest
??????

9. FINDING HUMOR IN UNPLEASANT SITUATIONS
Have you ever had one of those days?
What could cause it?

10. EXTERNAL STRESSORS Noise Air pollution Adverse lighting Overcrowding
Adverse working conditions
Negative personal interaction--family/social/work
Major life changes, clustering of life events
Availability of choices--over choice/lack of choices
Overly severe rules for living, self-imposed or otherwise
Physical, emotional, and social deprivation

11. INTERNAL STRESSORS
Lack of physical well-being, i.e., nutritional inadequacy, chemical balance, disease, pain.
Lack of exercise, sitting for long periods of time, sedentary lifestyle.
Hectic life pace and rhythm.
Conflict in personal psychology/personality, i.e., emotional state, feelings of guilt, unresolved emotions from the past, role conflict or ambiguity, perfectionism, low self-esteem.
Lack of spiritual, creative and sexual fulfillment.
Suppression of personal interests.

12. ADDITIONAL STRESSORS Informational overload
Life style changes
Lack of confidence in institutions
Job security
Setting limits
Mid-career phenomena
Physical and mental exhaustion
Underutilization of skills
Physical work conditions
Lack of control over one's destiny
Lack of occupational feedback and communication
Work overload or underload
Contact overload
Role conflict/ambiguity
Individual factors
Training deficiencies
Society changes

13. COST OF DISTRESS Individual Family Workplace
Physical illness Low self-esteem
Lowered energy Noninvolvement in public issues
Decreased productivity Joylessness and meaninglessness
Wasted potential Absence of fun and play
Lack of career advancement Loss of interest in sex
Decreased satisfaction with life, work, relationships
Family
Tension in the air Loss of potential earnings by an ailing family member
A damper on freedom of expression Inattentiveness to emotional and physical needs of others
Open conflict Family breakup
Psychological put-downs High health-care costs
Physical abuse
Low self-esteem of others in the family
Workplace
Low productivity Absenteeism
Worker dissatisfaction Worker turnover
Conflict with co-workers High health-insurance costs
Walt Schafer, “Stress Management for Welleness”

14. SO WHY IS HUMOR & LAUGHTER GOOD FOR US!
It allows us to be creative, work harder and be more comfortable.
It decreases isolation. Laugher allows us to bond with other people and ease our loneliness.
It’s contagious. Laughter creates laughter.
It’s universal. Everybody can laugh. Human beings are born with the gift of laughter.
It reduces aggression and conflict.
It relieves anxiety. One cannot laugh and be afraid simultaneously. It’s physically impossible. Laughter also shrinks the source and size of your fears.
Above all else, it’s fun. It gives us back our playfulness, a characteristic of all mankind.
Laughter is a natural, physical process which releases pain, physically and emotionally.

15. BENEFITS OF HUMOR/LAUGHTER
What are the health benefits of humor and laughter?
Reduce stress
Lower blood pressure
Elevate mood
Boost immune system
Improve brain functioning
Protect the heart
Connect you to others
Foster instant relaxation
Make you feel good

16. Laughter - Still the Best Medicine
Health benefits of humor & laughter
Adults laugh approximately 15 times per day, while children laugh about 400 times a day.
Dr. Stanley Tan, Endocrinologist at California’s Loma Linda University Medical Center states: “All these neuro-hormones act like an orchestra, each instrument makes a particular note. Laughter makes the entire orchestra more melodious or balanced. In other words, laughter brings to all the components of the immune system.”

17. HUMOR IN THE WORKPLACE
Humor, the joy of jocularity, has benefits that are actually measurable. The University of Southern California has tested subjects both before and after a through laugh session and found that laughing lowers the blood pressure, releases natural pain killers (endorphins), and boosts the immune system. Not bad for having fun!
Some of the correlations on the relaxing power of laughter:
100 laughs = 10 minutes of aerobic benefits from a rowing machine
15 minutes of laughter = relaxing effect of meditation for 8 hours
10 minutes of laughter = relaxing effect of 2 hours sleep
We can see the future of medicine now….”Take two television comedy programs and call me in the morning.”
Humor In The Workplace, Brian and Kelly Craft, Innovative Leader, Vol. 6, No. 5

18. A TWELVE-STEP METHOD TO FUN
1. Start with yourself.
2. Inspire fun in others.
3. Create an environment that encourages fun.
4. Celebrate the benefits of fun.
5. Eliminate boundaries and obstacles that inhibit fun.
6. Look for the humor in your situations.
7. Follow your intuition-Be spontaneous.
8. Don’t postpone your fun.
9. Make fun inclusive.
10. Smile and laugh a lot.
11. Become known as “Fun Loving.”
12. Put fun into action.
Dave Hemsath & Leslie Yerkes, “301 Ways to Have Fun at Work”

19. THINGS YOU CAN DO TO PUT MORE FUN/HUMOR IN YOUR LIFE? -CPRS 2005
2 different shoes or sox
Air guitar
Any eating contest
Be a kid at heart
Belly flop contest
Bubble blowing
Charades
Comedy night
Comics
Cook funny receipts
Dance funky
Dog park
Doodle
Draw cartoons
Face & finger painting
Food fight
Funny costumes
Funny faces
Funny movies
Funny noses
Funny stickers
Funny/silly pictures (i.e. baby pictures)
Gag gifts
Goodwill-try on funny clothes
Googly eyes
Juggling
Karaoke
Lip synch
Magic tricks
Mascot
Most embarrassing moment
Nicknames
Past pictures on different bodies
People watching
Pig Latin
Pillow fight
Pranks
Put on puppet show
Roast
Silly hats
Silly tales & stories
Skits
Slip-n-slide
Smile
Sound effects
Surprise someone
Theme days
Throwing contest (i.e. rubber chicken)
Water fight

20. HUMOR / LAUGHTER ACTION PLAN
What can I do immediately to increase my humor/laughter? Personally? Work?
(be specific)
ACTION
What can I do long range to increase my humor/laughter? Personally? Work?

21. HUMOR / LAUGHTER IDEAS HUMOR KIT
Funny pictures (family, friends, goofy ones, etc.)
Collect cartoons (newspaper, magazines, cards, etc.)
Noses (clown, Pinocchio, etc.)
Funny items (Groucho glasses, hates, shirts, etc.)
Noise makers
Posters (3 Stooges, Laurel & Hardey, etc.)
Audio & video tapes (comedy, storytellers, etc.)
Collect and send funny cards & letters
Dress funny days at work or running races
Read funny books “Erma Bombeck”, “Peanuts”, Calvin & Hobbes”, etc.
Collect humorous quotes
Find humorous people to talk to and be with
Try telling funny incidence
Observe life and people for funny situations and examples (i.e shopping mall)
“Lighten Up”

22. THOUGHTS TO PONDER! Live is uncertain…eat dessert first!
Don’t Postpone Joy!
One of the best things people can have up their sleeves is a funny bone.
Humorists always sit at the children’s table.
The most wasted day of all is that on which we have not laughed.
You grow up the day you have your first real laugh-at yourself.
A playful attitude is best.
Without laughter, the spiritual path would be boring.
Laughter is free, legal, has no calories, no cholesterol, no preservatives, no artificial ingredients, absolutely safe.
Laughter is the shortest distance between two people.
Good humor is goodness and wisdom combined.
An optimist laughs to forget; a pessimist forgets to laugh.
Laughter is the natural sound of childhood.
Humor is a fine teaching tool. People learn when they are enjoying themselves.
Laughter is the jest medicine.
Managing to have a sense of humor makes it a lot easier to manage people.
It is more important to have fun than it is to be funny.
S/He who laughs, lasts.
In prehistoric times, mankind often had only two choices in crisis situations: fight or flee. In modern times, humor offers us a third alternative: fight, flee--or laugh.
Steve Wilson, Eat Dessert First, Advocate Pub.

23. -CONTACT INFORMATION-
Ed Seagle, EdD, Professor
Department of Recreation
California State University, Chico
Chico, CA
530/
Specialty trainings and workshops related
to stress, burnout, humor/laughter. Sessions can be 2, 4 or 6 hours and feature lecture,
self evaluation and participation.
Outcomes:
Happy employees
Healthier employees
Better work production
Less turnover
Mike Martin
Learning Change, Co-Founder
120 West Second Street, Suite 2
Chico, CA 95926
530/
Learning Change is a creative and professional services company headquartered in Chico, California. We provide design and business consulting services to commercial, nonprofit, government, and educational organizations.Our integrated design and leadership team specializes in services that focus on invigorating your business or organization.
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