I read on the Internet about emotions having effects on the
human body. For instance, anger weakens
the liver; grief takes a toll on the lungs; worry affects the stomach; stress
attacks the heart and brain; fear weakens the kidneys.
I can actually see how some of these work. Take worry: of course it affects the
stomach. In addition to nausea and
general sick stomach, you can also get yourself so worked up that you either
puke or cannot eat at all. Worry can
also cause major agida and intestinal disruptions and can totally make you
become an Immodium addict. This one is
almost a slam-dunk.
Stress attacks the heart and brain. Sure, we know all about how stress weakens
the heart through things like elevated blood pressure and palpitations. Hell, stress will give you a heart
attack. This one isn't even rocket
science. The brain comes in when blood
flow is restricted from stress levels being elevated, right? Maybe stress can cause blood vessels to
rupture; bingo, stroke. This connection
makes perfect medical sense.
Fear is the easy one.
There's an expression. "To scare the piss out of" someone. This expression must've come from
somewhere. Of course, there are also the
expressions "to be scared shitless" and "have the shit scared
out of" oneself. So apparently fear
can also weaken the colon, large intestine, and small intestine. It's okay, though, because they're all in the
same general area.
I don't quite get the anger and grief ones, though. I mean, maybe if someone is angry enough they
will drink themselves into oblivion, hence weakening the liver. I don't know.
Maybe there's something that happens when we're so angry that we blow
out our livers. That doesn't sound right
nor even feasible, but there may well be a connection only doctors and Bill Nye
know about. And what's this with
grief? Is it because we either
hyperventilate from crying or breathe slower due to depression? I don't know.
I know I've had pneumonia a few times, and I do not feel exceptionally
morose. Maybe I am morose and just don't
know it. Good grief. Now I can't breathe.
Here's one thing I DO know.
Humor irritates the bladder.
That's right, listen up, you scientists out there. The bladder.
You start laughing, you just might pee your pants. Humor also affects the lungs because you'll
laugh so hard you can't breathe. Humor
must also enhance the brain because people who laugh have all kinds of things
flooding through their brains -- laughter stimulates hormones that control
mood, stress, and blood pressure. This means
humor can override stress that weakens the heart. Anticipation of laughter itself reduces
stress, even if the laugh never actually comes.
Of course, if you paid big money for a show or movie and
expect to laugh and be entertained, and you're not, then that could have the
opposite effect. I suppose that means we
should laugh as much as we can, and we should even be thinking about and
planning on laughing. Ed Wynn sang about
it in Mary Poppins, and it took them
three days to get his character off the ceiling he laughed so hard. Humor is uplifting, and it's addictive. Even worse, it's contagious. Well, not the peeing your pants part; that's
not contagious, but you certainly wouldn't want to be sharing a bench with
someone when humor decides to decimate his or her bladder, I can promise you
that.
I'm not doctor and I'm no scientist and I'm certainly no guru,
but I did read this on the Internet, so it must be true. There, now.
I'll bet your bladder feels weaker already. You're welcome.
