Skip to main content

Inappropriate Laughter

 Margaret at Straight Up -- No Chaser often makes me laugh. Today she wrote about her need for laughter and something that she and Rick call up that gets then laughing every time. It was an incident that is really not funny on the face of it, but the image sure made me laugh.

I have been guilty of inappropriate laughter many times.

I wish someone would just stop me when I decide to research certain subjects. 


Gelastic seizures (GS) are a rare form of epilepsy characterized by inappropriate, uncontrolled laughter. They are highly associated with abnormal cognitive development and behavioral problems in patients. NBCI


Pseudobulbar affect (PBA) is a condition that's characterized by episodes of sudden uncontrollable and inappropriate laughing or crying. Pseudobulbar affect typically occurs in people with certain neurological conditions or injuries, which might affect the way the brain controls emotion. Mayo Clinic


It may not be all bad though.

In some situations, inappropriate laughter may be our brain's way of breaking anxiety and tension — a built-in coping mechanism to diffuse bad vibes or stress. ... Nervous laughter could simply be an involuntary and instantaneous attempt at self-prescribed laugh therapy.


And this one:

 

On the plus side, this is most likely happening because your brain needs to diffuse the anxiety triggered by upsetting things, and therefore you are probably more sensitive, not less, than people who have their shit under control. Use this line, it is likely your best defense.

 

So, yeah let's go with that last one. 


This incident makes me laugh every time. I wasn't even there but the image is so vivid that I can't help but crack up when I think of it. It's a relatively mild example of my sick sense of humor.

A friend of mine was having a crisis of the soul. Everything in her life was going wrong. I think I was listening fairly compassionately until she got to this --
She was shopping in an old mill that had been converted to all kinds of small shops. There was a tiny store that sold sock and she was looking at them. Now my friend is a big woman and she was wearing a puffy down coat and she started to feel claustrophobic. So pushed her way out of the store in near panic and sat down at a nearby coffee shop. She ordered a cup of coffee. When the waitress brought it to her, she happened to look down and noticed that little pairs of socks were attached to the velcro closures on her open coat.

That just made me roar with laughter. When I could speak, I pointed out that her day could have been much worse. The sales clerk in the sock store could have called the police and reported her for shoplifting. My friend didn't see the humor in any of this but she is a good friend who understands me so she cuts me some slack.

Comments

  1. MaebemeFebruary 23, 2021 at 11:44 AM

    I laughed at the description as well. How could you not? I'm sure she was just feeling too down at that point to see the humour but maybe she sees it now.

    I recall sitting at my aunt's kitchen table a few hours after my uncle died. There were several of us there, my mom and aunt and a few of the cousins and I, and we started sharing stories about Uncle Bob. I don't recall what they were but at one point, we were all laughing. It felt good to release some of the grief though I'm sure anyone who had seen us would have thought it inappropriate.

    Take care, stay well.

    ReplyDelete
  2. RianFebruary 23, 2021 at 1:43 PM

    Olga, great post!! DH and I were just recently discussing what makes people laugh.... usually it's always something unexpected and/or inappropriate. I checked out that other site you mentioned. Made me laugh more. I do think it's a way we release tension... and that it's good for us. IMO sometimes people can be too sensitive. It's possible to see the humor even in serious situations. And of course timing is important... something might be considered funny later that isn't at all funny at the time.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Linda ReederFebruary 23, 2021 at 3:20 PM

    Well, that was pretty funny, I agree.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Arkansas PattiFebruary 23, 2021 at 3:28 PM

    Mine usually comes over me at funerals. Trying to suppress inappropriate laughter just makes it worse. I like that more sensitive theory and plan to borrow it.
    Did your friend ever see the humor maybe in retrospect? Too bad you didn't have a cell phone with you to record it.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Margaret (Peggy or Peg too)February 24, 2021 at 7:23 AM

    See now that's funny. I'd have laughed too Olga!

    ReplyDelete
  6. TomFebruary 24, 2021 at 9:58 AM

    Well, as you're demonstrating, laughter is the best medicine.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Granny AnnieFebruary 24, 2021 at 10:41 AM

    I got a call and don't think I finished my comment.

    ReplyDelete
  8. gigi-hawaiiFebruary 24, 2021 at 12:42 PM

    I thought the same thing. Call 911 immediately. As for laughter, it is good for the soul. It releases endorphins, dulls the pain, and elevates your mood. We should have a laugh fest. Laughter is contagious. One person laughs, and everybody laughs, too. Wonderful post!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Mildred Ratched February 24, 2021 at 2:52 PM

    I'm all for inappropriate laughter! Some of life's funniest things happen by mistake and at the worst times.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

I appreciate readers' comments so much. You don't even always have to agree with me.

Popular posts from this blog

It's TIme

 It's been a while since I have posted anything and even my reading your posts is falling by the wayside. I am in Florida now. I have a yard where little attention was spent on landscaping for the past years so I am slowly and (somewhat) methodically addressing that. I also volunteer to work at the pollinator garden and the edible garden I helped install at the UU grounds and I took over the volunteer job of cleaning out the overgrown community garden by my neighborhood mailboxes. The neighbor who was doing that got sick and could no longer attend to it. It's a bigger job than I'd thought at first -- not only overgrown with weeds, but the plants that are wanted there are in life and death competition for each others' spaces. And two walks a day, morning and evening, so Levi can keep up with addiction to canine social media and a daily rousing came of stick or ball midday take up another chunk of my time. I have a weekly meditation group that I co-facilitate, and my own ...
10 comments
Read more

Life Goes On

There is nothing like a visit from the grand children to remind one that life goes on.  I spent Friday night at my daughter's and then brought the kids back home with me.  I did not get to see so much of them this past summer and it was a birthday gift to my daughter (who just turned 40!) to have a couple of days to herself. She probably spent them in her son's room playing Lego StarWars.  Dane tried to teach me how to play this video game--a hopeless task if ever there was one.  "Concentrate, Grandma!  You have to concentrate!"  I do have a hard time with sustained concentration lately, but in this case I had no clue what it was that needed concentration.  He finally took the controls away from me (thank-you!). It's amazing how long he can amuse himself at my house being out side on a scooter or helping me in the yard, especially if it involves a hose.  Inside, they both sit and draw or craft for hours.  Just before bed, Dane did say, "N...
41 comments
Read more

Eggplant

Mike and I considered ourselves soul mates, but we definitely were not culinary mates.  Mike liked what he liked and disliked what he disliked and he never changed his mind about things like that.  He did not eat mayonnaise.  He did not eat tomato sauce.  He did not eat cooked vegetables except for corn, peas and green beans.  He did not eat onions cooked or otherwise.  He did not eat casseroles ever since they were a combination of things he didn't eat anyway. I did not like mushrooms as a kid and eggplant just made me gag, but my tastes changed,  Foods I found disgusting as a child are now among my favorites--mushrooms, eggplant, avocados, asparagus, eggs, spinach, brussel sprouts, herbs and spices. I will admit that I never developed a taste for liver (nor do I want to). I made this Moussakka a while ago and ate it every day for a week.  I froze half of it but ended up thawing it out right away. It consists of sliced eggplant layered...
31 comments
Read more