Why People Laugh in Serious Situations?

We often find ourselves in a strange and serious situation. Instead of reacting seriously, we laugh very often. Yes, it must have happened with you as well. If not you then maybe your friends for sure. However, that is not weird, that’s one of the most natural reactions. According to psychologist David Robson, the waves of laughter and giggles are considered to be one of our most profound and important behaviors. We as humans laugh at irrelevant and inappropriate situations for no specified reason. That can be bad news or probably during an argument with someone. On the other hand, other people seem to be extremely upset and react as if that could be the worst possible situation for them. However, some start laughing. So what does triggers them? 

Clearly, we lose the link between the situation and reaction. This behavior confuses some of us, and some feel that it is inappropriate to do that. It can actually confuse the person who is doing it because deep down they are aware that it is not their intention to spoil the moment and act irrelevantly. People are sometimes extremely ashamed of such behavior as well. However, one should never be ashamed of such behavior. Laughter is not something you have conscious control over. More importantly, you need to understand that laughing is not a way expressing happiness most of the times. It is, however, the way of communication which different people possess differently. 

People may laugh or smile because of various reasons. It is not specifically because they want their happiness. Many people laugh as they are somewhere not ready to accept the reality. So, that becomes a laughter of denial. Some laugh because they are embarrassed when they find themselves in strange situations. There are some situations which can cause discomfort or tension. So people end up laughing to release some tension. A genuine feeling of discomfort, embarrassment or confusion sinks us to have that nervous laughter. In simpler terms, laughter happens to make a person feel better internally or mentally. However, there are times you actually need to stop laughing at the inappropriate situation.

Let’s see what we can do in order to control this spilling laughter.

1. Understand The Inappropriate Situation

Everybody says laughter is the best medicine. However, for some situations, it can be an invitation to awkwardness. That laughter might be a medicine for you but could be inappropriate for the other people. There are many situations which are not laughable like going to a funeral, a crash or probably an injury or those jokes which have the intention to demean others. These will help you to maintain a serious and intense demeanor. The above was the typical situations where it is not okay to laugh. Consider those situations, and you will be good to go.

2. Try And Pinch Yourself

Cause some physical sensation in order to make you realize that you do not have to laugh at this situation. Probably pinching yourself or biting your cheek or your tongue can help in such situations. This can become an act of distraction for you in order to squeeze your lips to control your smile as people tend to notice a single smile at such places of grief and sadness. Bite your mouth together probably so that your lips do not rise to smile under such circumstances.

3. Excuse Your Laughter

There are many times when you feel like laughing loud. However, you can change your mood by excusing your laughter. If you have an urge to laugh irrelevantly at an inappropriate situation, you should immediately excuse yourself by saying something or probably thinking about something else. You can go to the restroom and try to hide your laughter also. There are various ways that you can divert your mind not to laugh. If you have people around, talk to them about that serious matter that could change your mind from laughing and keep you intact with the situation.

4. Think Of Depression And Sadness

If you are looking for inspiration, think about all those unfortunate incidents that can cause the equal pain to you. Thinking about such incidents can make you understand the grief of others at times. Moreover, put yourself in the situations of others and realize the pain they must be going through. People usually do not realize the pain before getting into the same shoe as the other person is. This method is physically proven to stimulate your mind and take it away from laughter. This is an effective method so when next time if nothing works, practice this to understand the situation properly.

5. Check On Others

The most important thing to do in such situations is to look around and check whether the other people are also laughing or not. If others are laughing or at least smiling a lot, you can also join the gang and feel free to express yourself with laughter. However, if the situation is different and people are not smiling and are in all serious mood, remind yourself also to stay focused and not laugh. You can also look around and see if there are some companions that you have who are also laughing inappropriately. You will notice that people are giving them awkward and annoyed looks. If you don’t want to be the part of that weird scenario, get away with it by controlling your laughter.

6. Use Breath Control For Laughter

Breath control is also an effective method to control your laughter. Try and exhale as much air as you can. This process will remove the excess air from your lungs, and the laughter will not pop up. Continue to exhale air to stop the laughter. This is also one of the best techniques that work better in these situations where you desperately want to control your smile. You can also combine the coughing technique with this to make it even more effective. Close your mouth to breathe heavily so that you can probably cough at the end to neutralize everything.

7. Think Before Laughing

You really need to think before you laugh. If there is an extremely serious situation, your laughter can be injurious at that time. You need to judge and look after of others emotions as well. Even if you are not laughing at their situation, it will give them an indication that you are probably laughing on their loss or grief. There are things which trigger you to do so. Think about the reason and realize that it is not unimportant and funny. If you laugh at such situations, you may have to get out of the situation because of the awkwardness that will fill the place.

(Image Courtesy: BBC)

People like to mask their feeling in front of other people. However, sometimes it becomes important to do so. Laughing can obviously lessen your nervousness but try and keep it a stimulating theory for you and not hurt others. When too many signals are sent to the brain, it confuses the brain at that moment which causes the laughter. Therefore, shine with your laughter wherever you feel is the appropriate situation, in a situation of pain and sadness, your laughter can cause someone even more grief. We hope to have more ideas and suggestions from your side in the comment section below.

(Featured Image Courtesy: Huffington Post)