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!

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'.