Nervous Laughter

A fellow blogger mentioned this in her post yesterday.  So I figured I can cover it as well.  As I too get a nervous laugh.

Although I am sure I have done it before before, the first time I can recall experiencing a nervous laugh was the first time I got married.  It was just the two of us and the priest (confidential marriage doesn’t require a witness).  While we were doing our vows, I had a hard time controlling my self.

Another time I recall having a nervous laugh is when my Son broke his toe.  I did my best to keep it in, however it did slip out and I tried my best to disguise the sounds as cries.  Seeing his toe broken scared me, and it was my first time needing to try and help him to the car to take him to the ER.

A few other times has been when someone I care about falls.  I know that usually most people laugh, but it’s always usually after they confirm they are okay.   However I am always concerned it just doesn’t always show.

But usually my nervous laughs lil ones that come out when my wife is sitting there with me and we are looking into each others eyes and talking during dinner and she says how beautiful I am.  Yes even after 8 years I am lucky enough to still hear that on a regular basis.  However yes I still get that laugh (she knows its a nervous thing).

Wikipedia states….

Laughter provoked from an audience’s expression of alarm, embarrassment, discomfort or confusion, rather than amusement. Nervous laughter is usually less robust in expression than “a good belly laugh”, and may be combined with confused glances or awkward silence on the part of others in the audience.

Nervous laughter is a physical reaction to stress, tension, confusion, or anxiety. Neuroscientist Vilayanur S. Ramachandran states “We have nervous laughter because we want to make ourselves think what horrible thing we encountered isn’t really as horrible as it appears, something we want to believe.” Those are the most embarrassing times, too, naturally. Psychologist and neuroscientist Robert Provine, from the University of Maryland, studied over 1,200 “laughter episodes” and determined that 80% of laughter isn’t a response to an intentional joke.

Unhealthy or “nervous” laughter comes from the throat. This nervous laughter is not true laughter, but an expression of tension and anxiety. Instead of relaxing a person, nervous laughter tightens them up even further. Much of this nervous laughter is produced in times of high emotional stress, especially during times where an individual is afraid they might harm another person in various ways, such as a person’s feelings or even physically.

So if you catch me laughing in a situation that doesn’t call for it, this is why.

Image:  Joaquin Phoenix playing The Joker; he suffered from a disorder called Pseudobulbar Affect, also known as PBA. and is not the same.  I just liked the film and wanted to use it.