Laughter

[OptimisticSmile]

This may be an OCD symptom and if it is then I am almost certain I am OCD. Im not seeking reassurence with this but Im wondering if this could be an OCD symptom though that would be a reassuring thing.

anytime im in a social context and conversation goes idle I get afraid I will laughing and I usually ended up laughing and everyone thinks im crazy or imature. Eating around a table of people is worst, it happened alot in church as well. Also whenever someone tells a joke I always seem to end up continuing to laugh long after everyone else has stopped laughing . I was in group therapy for Social Aniexty and I was constantly battling the thought that I would just start laughing and it happened so often . IN high school marching band I constantly battled this when having to stand at attention and everything was silent.

this has always plagued me and embarressed me. I cannot count how many times someone has asked me whats so funny and I have to respond oh nothing. sometiems its just me getting a funny thought or memory in my head that I cant get rid of and it makes me laugh outwardly.

 

[OptimisticSmile]

one other example.

in middle school I was on the school news team. pretty much anytime we would try to shoot a video I would crack up for no reason. Its like as soon as the camera was on I would start battling the urge to laugh.

 

[gracealone]

HI OP,
I think mostly the fear that you might start laughing at inappropriate times is definately OCD. I have often battled laughing at inappropriate times like in church. The harder I would try not to laugh the more I would laugh. Usually it was in response to something that in retrospect wasn't all that funny but in church it became overpoweringly humorous.
Did you ever see that episode of "Everybody Loves Raymond" where he couldn't stop himself from laughing after Debra told him her parents were getting divorced? The harder he tried to suppress it the greater his urge was to laugh.
Perhaps it's because laughter is an involuntary emotion, just as fear and anxiety are.
Just speculating here and not speaking from a position of really knowing just what this means.
Blessings,
Mitzi

 

[gracechick]

I have problems with that. I have laughed at inappropriate moments when I'm nervous or upset. Like someone falls or has an accident when I'm there with them.
I think it's some type of hiccup in the brain chemistry when dealing with emotions.

 

[HappyChicken]

I too have had this problem... I was just posting about it in another thread. It's almost like a defense mechanism...or something. Something bad will happen, and I will laugh inappropriately even though I don't find it funny at all. I gave an example about my grandmother funeral. Its a wierd thing. I think it was one of my first OCD symptoms as a child. Then, my ocd progressed into other forms....and kinda left that one behind. I don't laugh uncontrollably as much now, but it still happens some.