[gocubsgo]

Hello,

I'm new to this site, so here it goes. For some reason, every single time my fiancé is upset/angry with me, I begin to laugh, and even laugh harder when he becomes angrier. I'm not sure if this is normal. He thinks I'm being disrespectful, but I think it's an odd reaction that I have little control over.

This also applies to other people I deeply care about, but if a stranger or acquaintance is angry at me, I do not react the same way. I feel intimidated at those times.

So is this normal? Or not? Thanks in advance.

[pegasus]

Hello gocubsgo, welcome to Psych Central.

Emotions are emotions so laughing at an angry person is probably a defence mechanism that naturally comes on to diffuse the situation. We can't really force our emotions to do what we want unless we stuff it away and that can lead to depression. So-called inappropriate emotions can happen anywhere, I've witnessed a person laughing instead of crying at a funeral and I've also seen people cry instead of being happy when receiving a prize. Maybe you could explain to your fiance that you cannot help your reaction as it is an emotion which actually may be driven by fear...

[not quite right]

My youngest son has that exact same reaction. They call it improper response disorder, and it stems from anxiety. I hope that is helpful. Welcome.

[ElCambio]

Originally Posted by not quite right

My youngest son has that exact same reaction. They call it improper response disorder, and it stems from anxiety. I hope that is helpful. Welcome.

I was gonna say something similar to this! It alleviates the tension of the situation. The laughter is normally nervous laughter though. The weirdest time I've seen someone laugh is after they've been insulted. That was honestly the strangest (and most depressing) thing I've observed.

[Nemesis1984]

I do this when I get nervous sometimes. I think it's pretty normal