They say laughter is the best medicine — why then, don’t we prescribe laughter? According to a study by the NIH, there are many health benefits:
laughter has an analgesic effect for pain without the negative side effects that comes with most other pain medications
laughter improves our mood impacting levels of depression, anxiety and stress by releasing endorphins and lowering cortisol
laughter reduces agitation in people experiencing dementia
What if we prescribed the following when people are going through tough times:
Frequency: Laugh at least once a day
Dose: A full belly laugh
Duration: Over the course of a half hour
In this episode, I interview comedian and mental health therapist, Mike Cotayo about how a little laughter goes a long way in healing.
About Mike Cotayo
Known as the “Funny Shrink”, Mike knows how to handle difficult people because he was one! Surviving a traumatic brain injury, he overcame his own addiction to drugs. He then went on to devote over 20 years of his professional life as a clinical social worker servicing the needs of people living with mental health challenges and addictive behaviors. As an expert in treating people with borderline personalities, he has delivered keynotes internationally, including speaking at the European Association of Gestalt Therapy in Sicily. Besides his career as a clinical social worker, Mike has also achieved acclaim as a stand up comedian where he discovered the power of humor to heal. He has headlined at The Laugh Factory in New York City, as well as Binghamton University, Columbia University and Kansas State University.
I got an opportunity to meet Mike through our joint friend Frank King, and together we encouraged Mike to submit his story in our Guts, Grit & The Grind book series on men’s mental health (he is in Book 3: “Guts, Grit & The Grind: A MENtal Mechanics MANual: 10 Tools to Troubleshoot Men’s Mental Health Challenges”).
Show Notes
More on Mike
Website: https://www.funnymanmike.com/
Social Media:
● Twitter - https://twitter.com/FunnyManMike76
● Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/FunnyManMike/
● Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/funnymanmike76/
● Tiktok - https://www.tiktok.com/@funnymanmike76?lang=en
Previous Media Samples:
Validation!!: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/QqGKb9ktV60
Four City Brewery: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L5lSBz6sgsg
Comedy Therapy Short: https://youtube.com/shorts/eZgQMW7C2Cg
Comedy Therapy Short: https://youtube.com/shorts/ElOSPEr5DAY
Comedy Therapy Short: https://youtube.com/shorts/EFtPl9DeASc
A Dollar and A Dream: https://youtube.com/shorts/rfo90ELAh1c
Ms. Fancy: https://youtube.com/shorts/dtdiCnBOZqg
Incredible Hulk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SgtfX8h_QnQ
Other references and tools
The Laughter Prescription": https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6125057/
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