The Humor of Trauma Survivors

Garrick, Jacqueline

doi:10.1300/j146v12n01_09

Cited by 34 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 1 publication

(2 reference statements)

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…Indeed, experimental evidence shows that individuals with recurrent depression do not take advantage of some positive forms of emotion regulation, such as recalling happy memories (Foland-Ross, Gilbert, Joormann, & Gotlib, 2015), whereas they can benefit from certain negative strategies, such as suppression (Liverant, Brown, Barlow, & Roemer, 2008). What is more, growing evidence indicates that negative forms of humor can have adaptive effects for some people, particularly those experiencing adverse situations chronically, such as hospital workers (Francis, Monahan, & Berger, 1999) or trauma survivors (Garrick, 2006).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Is it worth turning a trigger into a joke? Humor as an emotion regulation strategy in remitted depression

et al. 2019

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Aim Humor has long been considered as an effective emotion regulation strategy for people vulnerable to depression, but empirical evidence in this area is scarce. To address this issue, we investigated the emotional consequences of humor in remitted depressed patients and compared them with the effects of positive reappraisal and spontaneous emotion regulation. Methods Fifty‐five patients with remitted major depression took part in a laboratory computer experiment in which they were shown negative pictures twice. First, the patients simply viewed the pictures and rated their reactions. Second, they viewed each of the pictures according to instructions, which are to (a) use humor, (b) use positive reappraisal, or (c) simply view the pictures, and then, they again rated their reactions. Results Humor was found to decrease negative emotions, increase positive emotions, and enhance the distance from adversity; it was more effective than spontaneous emotion regulation and similarly as effective as positive reappraisal. Humor was the most effortful form of emotion regulation. Patients were able to successfully produce humorous comments, and their failure to do so did not lead to worse emotional outcomes than regulating emotions spontaneously. The analyses also indicated that distancing mediates between using humor and the intensity of positive and negative emotions. Conclusions Our findings provide preliminary empirical support for the idea that for individuals vulnerable to depression, humor can be an adaptive tool in dealing with negative responses to aversive events, and, thus, it may impair their potential of these events to trigger depressive episodes. Further studies in this area are warranted to determine the most adaptive forms of humor and analyze their effects in various depressogenic contexts.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Is it worth turning a trigger into a joke? Humor as an emotion regulation strategy in remitted depression

et al. 2019

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…What should also be included in the discussion of coping humor is what is called “black” or “gallows humor.” Gallows humor is most common among individuals who face death and dying regularly (e.g., police officers, firefighters, and medical personnel) and refers to a type of humor used in the face of, or in response to, a grim or hopeless situation. Gallows humor arises from stressful, traumatic, or life‐threatening situations and is often described as the “only way to get by” in such a scenario (Garrick, ). It is a method for maintaining sanity in an “insane” situation (Kuhlman, ) and might give people a sense of control over the uncontrollable (Thorson, ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…That is, individuals high in humor tend to report lower levels of loneliness and are often perceived as more likeable and socially attractive than their low‐humor counterparts (Wanzer, Booth‐Butterfield, & Booth‐Butterfield, ). The increased likeability associated with individuals high in humor assists in the creation of interpersonal relationships, which in turn can lead to an increased sense of belonging and social support (Garrick, ). Indeed, research suggests that using humor to cope with a difficult situation can build rapport among both nurses and their patients, indicating that coping humor might be linked to social support (Wanzer, Booth‐Butterfield, & Booth‐Butterfield, ).…”

Section: Traumatic Workplace Stressorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Is humor the best medicine? The buffering effect of coping humor on traumatic stressors in firefighters

2013

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Summary Although our understanding of workplace stressors has grown across the past 30 years, this research has generally ignored traumatic workplace stressors. This is a serious omission, given that many occupations (e.g., firefighters, emergency medical technicians, and police) are frequently exposed to traumatic stressors. As such, the first purpose of the current study was to examine the impact of exposure to traumatic stressors in firefighters. Post‐traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), burnout, and absenteeism were investigated as cognitive, affective, and behavioral outcomes. Additionally, we sought to investigate coping humor as a mechanism for dealing with traumatic stressors. We frame these expectations by discussing humor from a transactional theory of emotion/coping perspective, as well as through humor's social bonding feature and its ability to combat the physiological impact of stressors. We surveyed 179 firefighters at two time points on relevant variables, with dependent variables collected at Time 2. The results indicated that traumatic events significantly predicted burnout, PTSD, and absenteeism and that coping humor buffered this relationship for burnout and PTSD. We discuss the implications of these findings and call for more research investigating occupations in which traumatic stressors are a concern, as well as for more integration of humor into the workplace literature. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

show abstract

“…Para evitar el aislamiento y sus efectos negativos es necesario buscar alternativas para estar comunicados con amigos/as y compañeros/as de trabajo, de igual manera que con los otros integrantes del seno familiar extendido, sobre todo con los niños y niñas. (Garrick, 2006).…”

Section: Revista Interamericana De Psicología/interamerican Journal Ounclassified

Cómo afrontar la pandemia del Coronavirus (Covid-19) en las Américas: recomendaciones y líneas de acción sobre salud mental

Gallegos

Zalaquett

Sánchez

et al. 2020

RIP/IJP

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

El 11 de marzo del 2020 la Organización Mundial de la Salud declaró pandemia a la enfermedad ocasionada por el Covid-19, la cual provoca efectos tanto en la salud física como mental de las personas infectadas por el virus, así como en el personal sanitario que las asiste. Dada la escasa disponibilidad de guías y recomendaciones elaboradas por instituciones psicológicas a nivel continental para afrontar los efectos en la salud mental, investigadores de la Sociedad Interamericana de Psicología (SIP) se propusieron el objetivo de construir una guía de recomendaciones sobre diferentes temas y problemáticas psicológicas. Para esto, se realizó una revisión sistemática de la literatura científica referida a la afectación de la salud mental provocada por este tipo de pandemia. Con base en la información recuperada y analizada de diversas bases de datos científicos (PsycInfo, Scielo, Redalyc y Dialnet), fuentes documentales procedentes de organismos nacionales e internacionales de salud mental, consulta a expertos en salud mental y diversas investigaciones científicas, se redactó un documento orientador para afrontar las consecuencias emocionales y psicosociales del Covid-19. Se espera que este aporte sea de utilidad para orientar a la ciudadanía y las prácticas profesionales de los psicólogos y psicólogas, y se constituya en una herramienta que sustente la toma de decisiones en las organizaciones psicológicas y en los organismos gubernamentales en salud pública de los diferentes países de las Américas.

show abstract

The Humor of Trauma Survivors

Cited by 34 publications

References 1 publication

Is it worth turning a trigger into a joke? Humor as an emotion regulation strategy in remitted depression

Is it worth turning a trigger into a joke? Humor as an emotion regulation strategy in remitted depression

Is humor the best medicine? The buffering effect of coping humor on traumatic stressors in firefighters

Cómo afrontar la pandemia del Coronavirus (Covid-19) en las Américas: recomendaciones y líneas de acción sobre salud mental

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About