An international nursing journal has reported the positive deployment of ‘Laughie’ wellbeing therapy among survivors of a catastrophic natural disaster.
Psychologist Dr Freda Gonot-Schoupinsky developed the Laughie a few years ago as a low-risk, no-cost tool enabling a bit more laughter in the day for better health and wellbeing.
The Laughie—which stands for Laugh Intentionally Everyday—involves using your mobile phone to record yourself laughing for 60 seconds, and then reviewing that recording (either alone or with others) twice more during the day, laughing along; maintaining that as a daily practice, with a new recording daily.
When Gonot-Schoupinsky first tested the Laughie, her research participants were all healthy adults, and they recorded their laughs individually. They felt better for the practice: sleeping better, feeling more relaxed and laughing more with others.
The Journal for Nurse Practitioners now reports of the Laughie’ s application with a group of survivors of the devastating earthquake in Türkiye in 2023 that killed tens of thousands of people and left about 1.5 million homeless. Surely, they had nothing to laugh about…
Dr Nilgun Kuru Alici, from the Nursing Faculty of Hacettepe University, argues that they had their health and wellbeing to laugh for.
She conducted 14 virtual Group Laughie sessions. Participants met once a day, laughed together for one minute, and then used the recording in their own time, twice more every day.
Read the journal article Tested instructions for the 1-Minute Laughie Laughter Prescription.
As the saying goes ‘laughter is good medicine’.
The Laughie enables nurses, social workers, psychologists – health and allied health workers – to prescribe ‘60 seconds LOL, repeat twice daily’.
Update ** Issues in Mental Health Nursing published this pilot study’s specific wellbeing outcomes on 29 August 2024. The Laughie, as a group intervention, scored significantly significant positive benefits. Read the details at this link.
Australian Laughter Yoga teacher and Global Ambassador for Laughter Yoga International, HeatherJoy Campbell has used the Laughie in her daily practice as well as sharing it in workshops since 2022. She’s shared research on laughter’s health-giving benefits through The Happydemic since 2016 as a means of spreading understanding behind the saying ‘laughter is good medicine’.