I honestly wish that my sense of humour stays with me to the end of life, I would miss it dearly should it fade, it shines a light that others fail to reach. It is both my sword and shield in fending off anxiety and depression.
I surf many blogs and forums of interest in attempting to expand my knowledge of this dreaded disease. Many personal to those with the disease are inspirational,others harrowing and indicative of individual experience of this accursed affliction of Dementia in it's various forms.
As someone with a diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease, I can still identify with the joy that people feel in the sheer living experience and being involved with the day to day expectations of maximising it, despite cognitive decline due to the condition in it's various forms.
I recognise that while there is great sadness in losing one’s cognitive abilities, family members and caregivers can still share a wealth of love and moments of great joy and laughter with those people living with dementia.
I hope that our view of Alzheimer’s can through humour and laughter, shift from “the long goodbye” to “the long hello.”
These posts and their humorous content, are not intended to be flippant or disrespectful of the seriousness of the AD condition, but are intended to shine a light into the dark private places that can be depression and anxiety.
Providing occasions for humour, laughter, and the celebration of life, in my humble opinion is another weapon in our armament for helping to improve the quality of life for those who have the disease in it's various forms, including that of their carers and family.
More than just a respite from sadness and pain, laughter gives you the courage and strength to find new sources of meaning and hope. Even in the most difficult of times, a laugh–or even simply a smile–can go a long way toward making you feel better. And laughter really is contagious—just hearing laughter primes your brain and readies you to smile and join in the fun.
Laughter dissolves distressing emotions.You cannot feel anxious,angry,or sad when you are laughing.It also reduces stress and increases energy,enabling you to stay focused and achieve more.
Humour shifts perspective,allowing you to see situations in a more realistic,less threatening light. A humorous perspective creates psychological distance,which can help you avoid feeling overwhelmed.
One essential characteristic that helps us laugh is not taking ourselves too seriously. We’ve all known the classic tight-jawed sourpuss who takes everything with deathly seriousness and never laughs at anything. No fun there!
Some events are clearly sad and not occasions for laughter. But most events in life don’t carry an overwhelming sense of either sadness or delight. They fall into the grey zone of ordinary life–giving you the choice to laugh or not.Having a good laugh with friends really does help us to deal with pain, suggests a new study. The international research team, led by Oxford University, found that when we laugh properly, as opposed to producing a polite titter, the physical exertion leaves us exhausted and thereby triggers the release of protective endorphins. These endorphins, one of the complex neuropeptide chemicals produced in the brain, manage pain and promote feelings of well being. According to the team’s research paper, published online in Proceedings of the Royal Society B, watching just 15 minutes of comedy with others increased the pain threshold by an average of about ten per cent.
"Sometimes I laugh so hard the tears run down my leg".
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