I bet you're all a funny bunch, so I ask: Have you ever attempted to make your pdoc or therapist smile or laugh? And can you laugh at your own BP behaviors (e.g., the silly or ridiculous things you've done)?

My pdoc shows 0 emotion. No smile, no frown, no grin, no grimace... Nada. I challenged myself to make my pdoc laugh one day. It took me 10-12 sessions, but I managed it...

..but he only laughed the one time I made fun of myself. LOL. He was like, "I'm sorry!" I said, "no worries! We all have to laugh at ourselves at some point."

[raspberrytorte]

I can laugh at some of my behaviors now, yes. They weren't funny at the time though.

[raspberrytorte]

I don't think I'd ever be able to get my pdoc to laugh. Most of the time she can't even understand me.

Yeah, it's never funny at the time

But our stupid behaviors make for great stories Like one time I was hypo and I thought it would be fun to hit up an old guy for the laughs. Turned out he actually liked me (or at least it looked that way). Ew

Maybe you should learn Hindi so that you can tell jokes to your Indian pdoc. It'll give you something exciting to do while you sit in boredom

[Unrigged64072835]

I can laugh at my foibles now, sure. Some of them, though, I just cringe.

My pdoc is pretty friendly so I'm sure I can get her to laugh if I can think up something funny.

[scatterbrained04]

I don't usually laugh at my BP behaviors. Since I hang out in depression so much there's not really anything funny. About 4 years ago when I started having new symptoms/trying different meds I'd kind of chuckle after the fact sometimes "well that was new..."

My pdoc smiles sometimes when we talk. He told me once that I should do stand up. I don't think I'm all that funny though.

[BipolaRNurse]

My former pdoc, Dr. Awesomesauce, and I used to laugh all the time. He has the same warped sense of humor that I do, and we spent part of almost every session sharing funny stories. It was therapy, because I love to laugh and can find humor in most situations...even embarrassing ones, like the time I bought this hideous neon tank top with a ginormous toucan splashed all over the front of it during a manic episode. He never did let me live that one down.

[manicminer]

I can only laugh at my exploits now because of how unbelievable they were and its a miracle I even survived.

My pdoc is very open with his mannerisms. He smiles, shows compassion, laughs, matches his reaction to my demeanor while speaking. One of the many reasons I followed him from his residency at the University into his co-op practice he has now.

[Bipolarchic14]

I do joke in therapy about it Overall I'm embarrassed about it

[Coconutzo]

My therapist thinks I'm hilarious when I'm manic.
That makes two of us.

[Travelinglady]

I try to get everyone to laugh, including my therapist.

And, yes, I can laugh at the things I've said and done when I am manic, but only when I look back, not at the time.

I think at one point we had a thread here where people shared the things they'd done when manic. Interesting!

Laughter and sarcasm is my frequent friend. I am always joking. Even when depressed. I have a macabre sense of humour.

[dangerousanimals]

I made my therapist laugh this week, but I don't remember what I said exactly...we were discussing not turning "violent thoughts" into "violent actions" after I mentioned getting angry at a woman at the grocery store. She was giving me attitude and acted like I stole her coupon. It was just absurd. The woman behind me in line pointed out she had been giving me dirty looks the whole time.

I can laugh at a lot of the things I do. Today's intrusive thought/hallucination involves tapping and knocking. I did some car maintenance today, so that's when it started. Can't put air in tires without feeling paranoid that they might explode. The tapping turned to knocking once I got home. Ordered pizza, but I don't have a doorbell. Kept the door open. Still heard knocking when no one was there. Thanks, brain.

[99fairies]

When I asked my doctor if I could quit all my meds he laughed out loud... For a while. I was dead serious.

[HALLIEBETH87]

I can, yes.

And I've seen my pdoc smile and get excited when I'm doing well. He's a cool Egyptian grandpa.

When doctors ask me if i hear voices i say that i hear one and it says: "You don't have schizophrenia!"

[JustJace2u]

If I don't laugh I may just as well cry at some of the things I do.

[OctobersBlackRose]

I laugh about my 2012 delusion, and the time I thought I was going to be a dog groomer w/o any experience, and I'm legally blind lol, or the delusion where I could only listen to music that was 432hrz cause everything else music wise was "evil", it was after my 2012 delusion.

Also I try to make my therapist laugh, and she makes me.laugh, so The es that.

Originally Posted by bluebicycle

Have you ever attempted to make your pdoc or therapist smile or laugh? And can you laugh at your own BP behaviors (e.g., the silly or ridiculous things you've done)?

Humor is a major defense mechanism for me, so yes. But I also enjoy amusing people. I make very little eye contact, so smiles are usually lost to me. But the humor and lack of eye contact allow me to talk much more freely. The humor does tend to get a positive response on account of this, even when they know it's a defense mechanism.

I've spent very little time dealing with a humorless provider (in psych realm).

Sense of humor about... Yes on the absurd. And dark humor as well, because dark and absurd are not mutually exclusive. But traumatic and terrifying things, no. Or things that there simply IS nothing funny about, no.

But overall, yes, I do try to see the humor wherever possible even if it takes time to get there. It makes it more bearable. I consider sense of humor a coping tool.

[venusss]

I sometimes laugh not to cry.

And because I laugh at more serious things than myself. It would be hypocritical not to make an expection of myself.

[mtnannie]

My pdoc laughed when I refered to myself as crazy. Not sure how to take that???

[Ripose]

I am hilarious when I get going when manic. One time I put on an x-rated sock puppet show for my wife and female friend, all three of us were laughing so hard for so long that the neighbor upstairs thought we were doing drugs.

[mossanimal]

I, myself, am starting to laugh at my pottery phase I went through this past spring when I saw amazing connections to my actual work as a swordsmith. But months later... and so behind on commissions and income.. I'm laughing to myself. I think next year.. my wife will laugh too.

[RomanJames2014]

Yes haha... I laugh at some of the lightly stupid manic stuff that I do and when I talk about the episodes I get comedic in my descriptions. My therapist will laugh at me the whole session and I have no clue.

I often joke to friends that I should have been a comedian.