July is a big month for Laughter On Call! Last week we turned six and today is one of our favorite holidays. International Self-Care Day. July 24th! According to the UK based Self-Care Foundation (SF), the date was chosen to underscore their belief that we should be engaging in self-care 24/7. Gotta love a lofty goal! SF has broken self care down to seven essential pillars. You can check them out here. I was batting a thousand on these until I got to “risk- avoidance.” Oops! Comedian/entrepreneurs, we’re not exactly known for dodging risk!
Naturally, I would add an eighth pillar - Laugh! It’s way easier than healthy eating, good hygiene and “rational use of goods and services,” and so much more fun! Not to mention, although I am, laughter is known to reduce cortisol levels by 31.9%. In fact, “even a single laughter session induced a significant reduction of 36.7% in cortisol” It also releases endorphins, serotonin and dopamine. Laughter: rational use not required!
Nevertheless, bully for you SF, for giving self-care a unique day in the calendar! And to the World Health Organization for establishing July as Self-Care Month! Prioritizing self-care is not often easy to do but it’s important not only for our own benefit but also for the benefit of those we love.
Early in the development of LOC I was talking with the people at Harvard Gerontology and they shared a statistic that has stayed with me and one I often repeat at caregiver trainings. A study revealed that when people in cognitive decline are cared for by someone who is depressed, they have a 10% faster decline. This is confirmed by another study run by the NIH, that found, “Depression in caregivers can also influence dementia patients’ cognitive status and has been associated with more rapid cognitive decline in the dementia patients studied.” It may sound woo woo, but we are all affected by the mood and energy of the people closest to us. My experience is that this is even more the case as we lose rational thought. These are good facts to cite when talking to carepartners because often they are least likely to put self-care first.
Sharing that your own health - both mental and physical - impacts those you are caring for, hopefully nudges these generous souls to take a walk outside, put on a meditation app, prepare a healthy meal and, of course, make sure they find ways to laugh!
