I Am Prone to Inappropriate Laughter

I can't help it. I giggle. I giggle at the worst times. Tell me something serious, something that affects you deeply, something that I'm not personally familiar with. I'll giggle. By the time I realize I'm doing it, you've already become highly insulted and you're looking at me like I'm from some other planet.

I suppose some part of me thinks that giggling will lighten the mood, break the tension, make things a tad less serious. It doesn't work. It tends to make me look like an idiot. Like I have no compassion.

I have no idea how this got started. I've been doing it for as long as I can remember. I know it's off-putting but I can't stop doing it. It's ingrained at this point. I'm not a kid anymore and old habits are hard to break. So I giggle. Like a gibbering idiot, I giggle at everything. And I piss people off while doing it. And the angrier they get, the more my giggle reflex takes control.

I need help!

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SW-User

I have a couple daughters that do this as well..I don't have any answers for you, but I find if I explain, about my daughters ,most people don't get mad at them..It is a nervous response and can't be helped..🙂

FriendlyBryan · 51-55, M

@SW-User It is, nonetheless, annoying as hell. I kick myself inside when someone points out that I'm doing it because, more often than not, I am not even aware of it. Then it's like, damn, what an ass I must be to be giggling at this.

SW-User

@FriendlyBryan I understand, but you are not an ass..It is something you can't help..

FriendlyBryan · 51-55, M

I once, about a decade ago, sat in a room with a man who had just been released from prison after a thirty year sentence. He was telling the story of his crime. He had been walking from New York to Florida and had made a stop for the winter in Virginia. He had met a woman there who had agreed to let him stay with her through the cold months. After a month or so with her he killed her. Then, after he killed her, he raped the body. Then he lit the house on fire to cover his crime. He gave up on his journey and started walking northward again. As he neared the state line something in him cracked and he turned himself in to the police.

He told this story with obvious regret. It pained him, as well it should. But then, as I sat there in shock, listening to him tell this horrendous tale, he looked over at me and said, "Something funny about this?" I thought I was about to die. Literally, this was the end. This guy was going to kill me. I'm not sure what I said but obviously he didn't kill me. I made it out alive.

Giggling at the wrong moment can be hazardous to your health.

Annab · 61-69, T

I'm a terrible giggler too - I've been known to giggle in my sleep

I also find it soo hard to keep a straight face especially in traumatic moments. I'm intensely shy so showing any real true emotion is really difficult for me.
Maybe it's my subconscious kicking in telling me to smile as smiling can often get me out of awkward situations - I don't know!
I often find myself though apologising explaining it's a 'nervous thing'.

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