It is not my place in life to criticize one of "the Great Ones" but the past psychoanalsts did tend to be a rather somber crowd. It was Sigmund's daughter Anna Freud who actually formulated the idea of the defense mechanism and she did have the forethought to list humor as a mature (ie, healthy) defense mechanism, so whether or not our forerunners actually DID laugh, they did not think there was anything wrong with it.
I have learned through the years that life cannot be taken too seriously, or it will eat one alive. Too much worry has a way to driving people to be morose, irritable and depressed. It also tends to drive people to become unpleasant charachters such as lawyers, surgeons and CEO's of large financially unstable financial institutions. It does tend to ensure psychiatrists like me do not have to worry about finding work, though.
So, although many would say my defense mechanisms are more consistent with neurotic ones than mature ones, I do try to keep laughter high on my list of daily activities. I hope that I can help someone else out there not take life so seriously, too.
Dr A
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