āCan you please stop laughing? It isnāt funnyā, the teacher yelled at me while I was in 10th standard and was giving a speaking assessment test which had to be recorded. I told my mind āPlease try not to laugh, be seriousā, I tried so hard and got so far, but it happened anyway. I donāt even know why I was laughing, perhaps it was the ugly faces of my friends.
Fortunately, the teacher wasnāt that strict with me and I suspect she too had a bad habit of laughing at serious moments. She understood what I was experiencing and I saw a mixed emotion on her face. I think she was also trying not to laugh.
There are so many other incidents like this and Iām pretty sure you do sometimes laugh at inappropriate moments. Come on, I know you do. Sometimes we often laugh at an unsuitable situation that makes us feel uneasy and embarrasses us later.
The strange part is Iāve never searched for the reason for it. Iāve never tried to find the logic behind our inappropriate laugh. Is it natural? Or, does it even make us bad a person?
But now Iāve found the reason. There is a scientific explanation behind it. And this is the weirdest explanation Iāve got to know after many years. But one thing is sure and Iām telling you that laughing at a serious moment is a really bad habit one can do.
Of course, laughter is the best medicine but how often or when to take the medicine? It should be prescribed. There are situations that donāt recommend you to laugh irrespective of how serious or amusing that was.
Just think of a situation, where youāre standing and laughing at somebodyās funeral, and then suddenly a family member comes and hits you in the face, āThis isnāt funny you idiot, Whatās wrong with you?ā It makes you look rude and arrogant.
You are having a date and you are walking with her, Just a moment away you find that she slips on the ground (possibly due to high heels), and now you go like Hee! Haw! Haw!. Just the next day she left a note on your TV saying- āItās isnāt workingā. But later you discover the TV is working perfectly fine. Hmm?
(By the way, she didnāt mean TV actually)
Would you consider this to be a matter of concern? It is in no control yours and unfortunate to die out laughing when the situation wonāt recommend. Now, coming to the curiosity Iāve been having regarding the reason for it finally comes to an end.
Laughing during inappropriate situations doesnāt indicate youāre a bad person or you donāt care. It is just your body mechanism that tries to trick you to make you feel better during intense situations. Your emotions come out in a way of laughter which is considered to be a burst of āNervous laughter.ā
According to Wikipedia- Nervous laughter is not true laughter. It is provoked by an audienceās expression of alarm, embarrassment, discomfort, or confusion rather than amusement.
The study says It isnāt a good belly laugh. It is the result of the bodyās defence mechanism in order to lower the anxiety, stress, awkwardness, and confusion you are experiencing at that particular moment. For instance, in school when a red-headed teacher scolds your friend your laugh comes out, but this may result in more stress if the teacher doesnāt like the way you laugh.
But I believe the study is situational and doesnāt apply to everyone. One may even laugh naturally though.
Homo sapiens being weird can laugh at irrelevant and inappropriate situations for no specified reason. Every so often you may even laugh at a joke that you donāt actually think was funny.
The situation is intense and makes you feel discomfort while giving a speech or attending a 2-minute silence. Your one hee-haw can spoil the moment. Although, it is possible that other people with similar habits may also laugh by seeing you laugh. It is a whole chain reaction.
Deep down you know that you donāt want it to, you may also feel guilt for what youāve done but you have no control over your subconscious mind, it just finds its way out of your mouth.
Laughing neutralizes the awkwardness & intense emotion we are experiencing. It relieves emotions in the form of laughter. Although it may create more stress and awkwardness in your mind afterwards it does work for the body.
Now, Iām really afraid that itāll happen while giving an interview? There is no way to escape that.
But, Legends say that there are some ways if you properly use your brainās cerebral capacity. So, in the wrong situation when you think you are about to laugh:
However, if any of these doesnāt work, then just cover your mouth or fill your mouth with lots of tissue paper, thatās the best you can do, otherwiseā¦.you are screwed anyway.
Any better solution you got? As you know different minds have different solutions. Here is a chance to use your brainās cerebral capacity. Let us know in the comment box.
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š The Best Time To "Laugh" is at "Serious" 'Grown Ups' as Death Always has The Last "Laugh" or Does Death Do So š¤ ?
...ššš...
Perhaps you are right.
Loved it Ritish. Laughing...ššš
Haha! Thankyou Lokesh.
Yep! that's the right time to laugh
Good post . I certainly understand the problem. Once years ago I had a male friend who I came to know only asked me to dinner if he had a problem or some disaster to unload. He thought of me as a kind compassionate person. I tried too hard!
We were eating a lovely dinner but my mind was racing . Dinner was going down in lumps. I was steeling for the moment. When it came I thought I was prepared.
He leaned across the table and announced seriously.
'My grandfather died yesterday'.
Something inside me broke unexpectedly. I could not stop laughing. I laughed and laughed and left the table with tears streaming down my face,
It rook several minutes before i came back .
We never dated again. It has never happened to me again but I do understand.
Huh! That must be the really awkward situation you got through.
And I was thinking of the way that guy was giving to you of your laugh. Haha!
It feels very weird to think about it later, isn't it?
But what could you do, there is no way to escape that. Anyway, It surely left a strange memory to talk about whole life.
Thankyou for sharing this anecdote.
Wonderful!
Thankyou. Gald you liked it.
671Ć23 Abhishek upmanyu it is šššš well I am the person who laughs in a serious situations, I never knew there was a reason, I thought I am just weird š Great post
Glad you noticed š
Actually everyone's weird, we are humans.
Good to know you know the reason now.
I've laughed through funerals and wedding with nerves no doubt. But the time my good friend told me she had terminal cancer and I was hysterical was definitely the worst! Fortunately, she said it cheered her up :)
That's sad actually. How's your friend now?
It was sad and please don't think I found it funny. I think it was a nervous reaction and instead of hysterical crying, it came out as laughter.
Sadly he did pass away some years ago now, at only 36. She will never be forgotten and her memory lives on in many ways :)
I can understand. And I'm so sorry to hear of your loss.
She's Gone yet not forgotten.
Thank you Ritish :)
š
Great article Ritish. I had to smile a bit reading this. I've experienced nervous laughter quite a bit. It doesn't help that I can also see the humor in a lot of situations. It's good to laugh at life a bit. Not so great in serious situations. You're so right about that. Thanks for sharing! Keep up the great writing!
I see humour in lots of situations too. It's really hard to control a laugh at that time. But somewhere it's cheers us up.
Thankyou Tina.
That used to happen to my childhood friend and I in junior high. We would start laughing in chapel sometimes. It was so quiet and we couldn't stop, and the more you try to stop, the more you laugh.
I SHOULD have pinched myself! Doesn't happen anymore. But it could.... then I WILL pinch myself, lol.
Haha! You got it right, even if you try to make your mind serious to the situation, your laugh burst out even more that even pinch doesn't work that time.
š¤£š¤£š¤£š¤£š¤£Ive never experienced such situations but j found the post funny though
You never? Thatās strange or maybe you have a very strong controlling power.
Anyway, Glad you enjoyed.
šššmost welcome
Enjoy your articles but wish I could find the like button.
Thankyou so much. Glad you enjoyed.
Like button isn't showing to you? It's at the bottom of the article.
It was just very slow. I finally found it. Keep writing!
I have really enjoyed reading this blog, I did laugh a little while reading, I have also experienced laughing at the wrong time which was out of nervousness, it occurred in hospital when my son was getting treated for an condition, the doctors looked at me and I felt awful.
I can only imagine how awkward that was. But you aren't the one, there are plenty of people with the same habit and situations.
Glad you enjoyed reading this. Thankyou
It was extremely awkward! glad I'm not alone. I thoroughly enjoyed reading your post, thank you and have a nice day
Have a nice day too.
Witty. Lovely. I had smile through out the reading.
That's Great. Feeling so glad to make you smile.
So so so relatable!š¤£
Yes, Everyone's under the same umbrella.
Glad to make you laugh.
I, too, has a bad habit of laughing at serious moments and ends up in the troublesome scenario afterward. Good post.
Haha! We all are singing the same song.
True that!
As a student, I had a problem with laughing in Church. Or when saying grace in a large setting. Extremely embarrassing.
I can understand how uneasy it was.
We all went through this and still do sometimes. There is no way to escape that, unless you strong enough to control your mind.
The WWE images and gifs had me in splits!!!! But I get the drift, interesting how you went ahead to check on why when most of us just laugh or don't laugh even when we want to in such situations!!
It was interesting for me to know about that. I've been into such situations so many times. I know it's a bad habit but what can I do. It went the way it had too.
Yeah we should not beat ourselves around it.
Absolutely
The solutions suggested were totally unique, practical yet funny! Such a fresh outlook on nervous laughter! Love this blog
Haha! I suspect you too have a same habit that's why you liked the solutions.
Anyway Thankyou you find this interesting. Keep smiling and laughing.
On that
pay attention
the moment
the act
after doing
the negative
Effects
in us
in other
caused
to become aware of it
for perusal
one comes
the avoidable
getting closer
Haha! This post brightened my day, Ritish! :) Hope you are well! <3
Glad to make you laugh.
And yes I'm well. Thankyou so much.
Very helpful
Thankyou.