'Baby Micah' YouTube Wonder Reduces Viewers' Stress (VIDEOS)
YouTube sensation "Baby Micah" has a reportedly calming effect on video viewers and has also lowered their stress and anxiety levels.
The most popular clip thus far shows Baby Micah laughing enthusiastically while the father rips up a job rejection letter. The video has reportedly garnered over 33 million hits since it surfaced online in February.
Skip MacCarty, Dr. of Ministry and grandfather of Baby Micah, is not surprised at the reactions to the baby's videos. "Laughter is an excellent stress reducer," he stated.
Get Our Latest News for FREE
MacCarty is also a Fellow of the American Institute of Stress and retired minister. For over 20 years, he has been teaching people about proper stress management. He feels that laughter is one of the best medicines for those suffering from mass amounts of stress.
MacCarty has also authored the books, Things We Don't Talk About: Help for the Private Struggles of Ordinary Adventists and In Granite or Ingrained? What the Old and New Covenants Reveal about the Gospel, the Law, and the Sabbath.
"Baby Micah has brought our whole family hours of joy with his contagious laughter," MacCarty stated. "What you see on the YouTube clip is just what this little guy is really like. He's a contagious laughing machine who enjoys life to the fullest, with a few whimpers sprinkled in to remind us that he's human."
Researchers refer to laughter as "internal jogging", since it is known to give the internal organs a good workout. It is also good for lowering stress hormones and fights debilitating diseases.
MacCarty and his daughter Pamela Coburn-Litvak, who holds a Ph.D. on the effects of stress on the brain, have co-authored the faith-based "Stress: Beyond Coping" seminar and e-learning course. Interested individuals can discover this online seminar trough stressbeyondcoping.com. They are preparing to offer first-time users 24-hours of free access to one of the four modules of the e-learning course.
The video below showcases a free introductory session that describes the Stress: Beyond Coping eLearning series:
Viewers of the Baby Micah videos have left positive comments on the profile page. "You and Micah have the best father and son relationship I have ever seen!," said YouTube user pyromaniiacx3. "I hope one day I have a kid who laughs and smiles as much as he does, and I hope I have a husband who will be as loving and playful as you are!"
"I can't wait to have a baby!," said YouTube user rosariobustamante87. "I hope he's half as adorable and lovable as Micah is, you're a really good dad and it's so obvious how much you love your son! You are both super lucky!
Baby Micah and his parents will be on NBC's Today Show again for the third time since March on Dec. 29.
Below is the famed video of Baby Micah laughing hysterically at his father ripping paper:
