Social science
What to do to stop laughing

What to do to stop laughing

Laughing at exactly the wrong time and in the wrong place can be very embarrassing, and is often a natural reaction of people who come face to face with stressful situation. The point is that laughter helps us feel better despite what's going on around us, even when things are really bad. This protective response helps us reduce the stress and pressure we feel because of what happened. But if laughing in inappropriate situations is literally interfering with your life, start fighting this habit. If this doesn't work, you will need to find the underlying reasons that make you follow this habit. And even if you can't stop laughing at inappropriate times, you can definitely handle the situation.

Steps

Fight the urge to laugh

Try to perceive your desire to laugh as something that is not part of you. Of course, it takes time to learn to cope with the habit of laughing in inappropriate situations, but at the same time, trying to distract yourself from this problem is a fairly simple way to overcome yourself. Try one of these options to get rid of the thoughts that make you laugh:

Quick ways to get distracted:
Pinch yourself. A slight and sharp sensation of pain will quickly distract you from the thoughts that make you laugh.
Start counting down from 100 to 0. Try to switch your attention to something banal, for example, to numbers or numbers - this will help calm your emotions a little.
Start making mental lists. A shopping list at the supermarket, a to-do list, a list of favorite movies or possible summer vacation destinations - pick a simple topic and go! Making mental lists will help you feel in control.
Try to find objects of a certain color in the room. Choose any color and see how many objects of that color you can find around. Such a small goal will help pacify emotions and shift attention away from thoughts that cause laughter.
Sing yourself a song It could be a basic children's song! The main thing is that trying to remember the melody and lyrics of the song will help you calm down and take your mind off what makes you laugh.

Find out what makes you laugh at the wrong time. Are you laughing because you're nervous? Or does laughter help you cope with unpleasant and painful feelings? Maybe you're laughing because you have too much energy and can't find the words to express yourself? Whatever the reasons, be sure to write down situations in which laughter becomes a problem for you.

Choose a behavior that could replace your habit of laughing. How could you behave instead of laughing nervously?

For example, you can nod, lick your lips, exhale slowly, or click your pen.

What you choose to replace your habit of laughing at inopportune times depends on the circumstances under which you usually feel like laughing.

For example, you may have a habit of laughing nervously during important business meetings. If this example perfectly describes your case, try clicking your pen instead of laughing.
If you constantly laugh in serious situations, take a deep breath and then exhale slowly (just at the moments when you usually start laughing).

Make a plan to help replace your laughing habit. Once you know what makes you laugh and what you can do to replace that habit, promise yourself that you will try to develop a new behavior pattern. Refresh this plan in your mind - this way you are more likely to follow it.
- Tell yourself, “The next time I feel strange in a meeting, I will immediately start clicking my pen,” or, “When I go to a funeral ceremony and people are expressing their condolences, I will simply nod.”
Basic exercises for developing awareness
Close your eyes and repeat the mantra to yourself. Think of (or say) a word or phrase that helps you concentrate, such as “calm down” or “take deep breaths.” Repeat them for 5 minutes a day, during this time different thoughts will come into your head, let them come and go, try not to think about them and not judge yourself. Just breathe and return to your mantra.
Scan your body. Try to notice any special sensations in your body, such as tingling or tickling. Don't obsess or react to them. Try to “scan” your entire body from your toes to the top of your head.
Come to terms with your emotions. Allow yourself to feel the emotions and sensations that fill you, do not judge yourself. When you notice a new emotion, name it: for example, “sadness” or “discomfort.” Relax, accept the fact that you feel this way, and then let it go.

How to deal with laughter in an inappropriate situation
1. Realizing that you are about to laugh, try to go to some secluded place as soon as possible.
  - If the “laugh” comes out before you have time to recover and suppress it, simply apologize. This will give you time to calm down and take a few deep breaths before joining the discussion. Try to remember the feeling you get before you laugh, and try to identify the triggers that make you laugh - all this will help you stop or apologize in time.
    You can go
    to the rest room
  - Whether you are at a funeral or in the office.
    Move away a little or
    get back to the car
Say, “I'm really sorry that I started laughing at your father's funeral. I want you to know that I don’t find anything funny or funny in this, I often have fits of nervous laughter when I’m sad. I really hope that I didn’t hurt your feelings with such behavior!”
1. Treatment of psychological conditions that cause nervous laughter To find out what deeper issues lie behind this habit, talk to a psychologist.
  It is quite possible that you are not able to cope with gusts of laughter on your own - and this is quite normal. A psychologist will help find out what triggers your laughing habit and also recommend good ways
  - that will help you overcome this habit.
2. You can find a good psychologist on the Internet. Sometimes people experience bouts of uncontrollable inappropriate laughter due to various medical conditions such as pseudobulbar syndrome, bipolar disorder, dementia, stroke and other neurological disorders. Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (a type of antidepressant) can help people stop laughing in some cases.
  - Your doctor will decide whether a particular drug treatment is right for you. Keep in mind that serotonin reuptake inhibitors do not help all patients, and they may interact with other medications you are taking.
3. Find a CBT specialist if you have Tourette syndrome or OCD (obsessive-compulsive disorder).

These diseases can cause inappropriate laughter. If you have Tourette's syndrome, a fit of laughter may occur as a kind of tic, but with OCD, laughter will occur more “out of habit.” Fortunately, this behavior can be learned to cope with, although it can be difficult.

Instructions Exists the whole system

laughter therapy, which helps people learn to laugh correctly and, thereby, get rid of many ailments. For example, in yoga there is a direction called Khaasya Yoga. Its essence lies in breathing exercises, which you perform by pronouncing the famous “ho-ho”, “ha-ha” and “hee-hee”. Thus, laughter is stimulated.

If you don’t have the opportunity to practice with a yoga trainer, then try to pronounce these magical sounds yourself. The secret is that “ho-ho” must be pronounced from the abdomen, “ha-ha” - from the chest and from the heart, and “hee-hee” - from the place where the yet-unopened third eye is located in the east, that is, from the middle of the forehead.
There is always a reason to be sad, and it is this that pushes out all the reasons for laughter. But it should be the other way around. If you feel a negative weight settling inside, stop and stretch your lips into a smile.

Yes, at first it may look stupid from the outside, but you will feel how the dark cloud inside dissipates, and you feel calm again. The more positive you are, the easier it is to bring out your laughter, since it won't encounter multiple obstacles. Develop your sense of humor and try to apply it to any situation. It often happens that people laugh after bitter tears, but they wouldn’t start laughing right away. Laughter sobers up and helps you find more correct solution

Get rid of all the fears that are hidden deep inside. They not only prevent laughter from penetrating, but also aggravate any minor situation. For example, if you are afraid of doctors, then any illness will cause you panic. But people who are deprived of this feeling and perceive everything that happens with humor can laugh at the temporary situation in which they find themselves. Even if you have a broken leg, rest assured that laughing will only speed up its recovery.

Take advantage of comedies, humorous shows with your favorite artists, go to the circus or rides. You will learn to laugh instantly, because professional actors make even inveterate gloomy pessimists hold on to their tummies.

Sport raises overall tone, evens out breathing and improves human emotions. Remember what a good mood you feel after two hours of skating, when even numerous falls make you laugh sincerely.

Practice your laughter every day, whether there is a reason or not. Just stand in front of the mirror or remember something funny, and at that moment a smile will appear by itself. And then just start laughing, laugh even if you have to make an effort at first. Later you will feel a pleasant tickling in the chest area, this is a sign that everything is working out for you. Do 15 minutes of these exercises every day, and soon people will envy your infectious laughter.

Our life is full of moments that make society laugh and smile. Of course, this is wonderful, because thanks to laughter we improve our mood and are charged with positive emotions. But there are times when the event that causes laughter has a double meaning, and your smile can create a negative impression of you. How to prevent this? How to avoid smiling at the wrong moment? Here are some tips to help you avoid getting into a sticky situation.

Resist from smiling

Try to remember something sad and sad. This will bring a little despondency, and the smile will disappear from your face by itself.
Imagine that someone's mood depends on your smile. What if you seriously offend someone with your smile and laughter at the wrong moment? Agree, it’s not very pleasant to feel guilty.
To force yourself not to smile, you can gently pinch yourself. A slight feeling of pain will make you stop smiling. Just be careful and make sure no one notices this.
To prevent your smile from being noticed, find a good excuse and move away from the source of laughter.
Try putting something sour in your mouth, like a strong lemon-flavored candy that will make you forget the funny stuff.
Another way to avoid smiling on your face is to lightly bite your tongue or lips. Your thoughts about the funny will immediately be replaced by painful sensations. Just don’t overdo it with biting so that you don’t have to treat your mouth later.

Learn to control your emotions

In addition to the above simple tips you can form psychological protection against reacting to funny situations. You can control your smile by training in front of a mirror, doing auto-training, and developing facial expressions. Constant training will help you at the right time.

Having learned about possible control over your smile, do not forget that very often your smile can help a person, give him self-confidence and give him a good mood. Therefore, smile more often and enjoy life!

Surely each of us at least once in our lives has encountered a situation when we are tempted to laugh at some important and serious event. But you have to restrain your impulses, because the consequences of inappropriate laughter may not be very funny. How not to laugh at the wrong time?

Laughter at the wrong time can be caused by various reasons., from an “overdose” of seriousness and even pathos to the need to somehow relieve the tension (nervous laughter, a kind of defensive reaction). But whatever the reasons, you are unlikely to get away with laughing loudly in an inappropriate environment. But how can you not laugh? How to restrain yourself?

One of the most common tricks is to disguise a laugh as a cough.. Sometimes it works, but it is so well known to almost everyone that you can very easily be figured out. And a loud cough can be just as inappropriate as a loud laugh. Especially if you have not shown any signs of illness before.

Can try to hold back laughter with unpleasant physical sensations, it may distract you. You can pinch yourself, prick yourself with a pin, or discreetly bite your tongue, the inside of your cheek, or your lips. Just don't overdo it so as not to injure yourself.

If you don’t like such “barbaric” methods, you can just hold your breath as if you were trying (if others notice that you are holding your breath, hiccups can be justified). But keep in mind that holding your breath can have the opposite effect and make your laugh even louder, so be careful.

There is also the opposite method described above: you need to exhale well, so that the air that has accumulated in them leaves the lungs. To laugh, a person needs a sufficient amount of air in the lungs. If there is no air, you won't be able to laugh. Only the exhalation should be as silent as possible; if it is too loud, you can, again, feign a cough.

Also you can try to think about something abstract maybe this will help you stop laughing. What can you think about? Yes, about anything, as long as it somehow distracts you. Count mentally from one to ten and back. Repeat the multiplication table for nine, and if that doesn’t help, then repeat the multiplication table for all other numbers. Remember the birthdays of all your friends and relatives.

You can also try think about something sad- perhaps this will turn your mood 180 degrees and help you not laugh. Remember some sad movie or book, the latest world news (they rarely make you happy), the insults that your loved ones and not so close people have ever caused you. This is unpleasant, but if it is very important for you not to laugh, this method can be effective.

Or try remember problems you haven't solved, which you constantly put on the back burner. Remembering them will discourage the desire to laugh, and there may be benefits from this - what if you manage to come up with a solution to any of these problems?

Some people find it helpful not to laugh appeal to one's own conscience or fear of consequences. Just think about what awaits you if you laugh at an important planning meeting. Depending on the nature of your boss and the importance of what is happening, inappropriate laughter can lead to a variety of consequences, from being called to the carpet to being fired. Are you ready to take a risk?

Using all these methods, try not to look at the reason for your laughter- sometimes it seems that you have managed to control your laughter, but as soon as you take one look at the person who made you laugh, the uncontrollable fit of laughter will begin again. So look somewhere else - at least at the wall, at least at your notebook, at least at the toes of your shoes.

In general, laughter, like crying, is difficult to control, and sudden outbursts of laughter are not at all a sign that something is wrong with you. But this, of course, does not mean that you need to laugh with or without reason - there are some standards of decency. We hope our tips on how to stop laughing at the wrong time will help if you ever need to control inappropriate laughter.

“Laughter, like any other emotion, does not stop immediately and does not disappear without a trace. It takes from 10–15 minutes to several hours for complete emotional self-soothing,” the doctor explains the reason for your prolonged hysteria at a recent shareholders meeting psychological sciences, Professor of the Faculty of Psychology at VGGU Alexander Tikhonov. But it's not all bad: managing emotions is a skill that can be mastered.

Before the storm

If you feel that laughter is already rolling in and your abdominal muscles are starting to contract (and how can you resist if the dead man fell out of the coffin again and fell face first into the cake!), try doing auto-training.

Close your eyes and repeat to yourself: “I control my laughter,” “I control my emotions,” etc. The main thing is to avoid phrases with the particle “not” (like “I’m not funny”). Convince yourself only with affirmative sentences.

“Since the process of inhibition during a surge of emotion is much weaker than the process of excitation, the brain will not perceive negative particle“- assures Alexander.

If you can already hear joyful adult laughter nearby, beware of looking at the faces of those around you. Laughter is contagious, just like a yawn. It will be easier for you to stay away from him without seeing anyone laughing. If possible, walk a little, take a few deep breaths and drink a glass of water in large sips.

Attention task

“A good distraction technique can be switching attention to some object or task,” Alexander promises. Laughter is not such a voluntary reaction as it seems.

In fact, by laughing at the boss's pants that have come apart at the bottom (which makes his vestigial third leg visible), you are doing some conscious work. Change it - do something else. Although it can be a mental activity, muscle activity works better.

Scatter a stack of documents and start picking them up, drop a pen under the table and start chasing it, release a bat and start catching it. All this will stop your laughter, although it will make everyone else laugh.

Stranger

Step away from a situation that makes you laugh. You should not become a participant (albeit passive) in what is happening, but an outside observer. Change your perspective on what's going on, and the tourist hatchet in the groom's back won't seem so funny to you.

If the reason for laughter is a certain person, find any difference between him and yourself. Is his position lower than yours? Is he fatter than you? Any of these reasons will make you special, and you will be able to treat the person who made you laugh like an exhibit under glass that you can study without showing emotions.

It hurts

Nothing helps? You probably treat people with increased emotionality. However, in this case there is a way out. "Pain is the greatest of all human feelings“, which outweighs any emotions,” our consultant hints, encouraging you to take specific actions.

Twist your finger, bite your tongue, give yourself a kick. It won’t take long for a nerve to be touched: you’ll instantly shake yourself up and be able to make yourself feel normal when looking in the mirror.