Why do some people laugh at Funerals?

reply to post by MCoG1980


Thank you very much for supporting me.

Gotta have a second line - so, thank you.

naah, no guilt tripping here, cheers to OrangeJuice and Spellbound . I was referring as being 'bad' in the terms on general opinion, don't see myself as any bad, but maybe sometimes just careless. Yes, laughter and tears are very close to each other, agreed. Both generate enormous amounts of energy and vibration around the one who creates it. It's like a ripple effect.

btw, I've heard many times how Russians dance and drink vodka by even bringing a proper table and chairs along to remember and pay respects to that person. I'd like that, would create really good vides

[edit on 29-4-2009 by Aurorean]

reply to post by Aurorean


Wow, what a great way to say goodbye - I hate the way we do.

Bring on the voddie, the table and the chairs.

Just a thought... but considering he laughed right after the preacher was stating how great of a woman she was, what if the reverse is true? What if the laughter wasn't "nervous" but a laugh of irony instead?

Maybe this lady was terrible behind closed doors, starved her kids, beat them, crushed the child's dog with her bare hands and fed poisoned cookies to the neighbors.

Or... I could be wrong?

RIP, lady.

reply to post by RadicalIgnoramus


Except the laugh wasn't an are you kidding me laugh. That's the difference with what I heard and saw. Carl laughed at an invisible object for a few minutes then there was total silence.

His body locked in place and the laugh was repetitive like the puppet on SAW.

During the previous 2 ceremonies I attended the family members would rock in place while laughing or fall to the ground and laugh.

And again I am Not ridiculing any person who laughs at funerals so I don't consider this a bad thing, just curious as to what's going on when this happens.

reply to post by OrangeJuice

You asked :
Why do some people laugh at Funerals?

Indifference and Decompensation in Pathological Narcissism

The narcissist's guarded detachment is a sad reaction to his unfortunate formative years. Pathological narcissism is thought to be the result of a prolonged period of severe abuse by primary caregivers, peers, or authority figures. In this sense, pathological narcissism is, therefore, a reaction to trauma. Narcissism is a form of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder that got ossified and fixated and mutated into a personality disorder.

Source : Buzzle.com

Decompensation

The word "decompensation" can imply that the identity of the individual being treated is so interwoven with the mental illness that it is hard to distinguish the two. For this reason many individuals with a mental illness do not like the use of this word to describe an increase in symtomatology. It might be more sensitive to simply state that the person experiences an increase in severity and frequency of symptoms.

Source : Wikipedia

reply to post by visible_villain


What do either of those have to do with OP's question? You can't just randomly pick a disorder out of the DSM IV and apply it however you wish. I don't see ANYthing in OP's post that would imply Carl suffered from pathological narcissism.

reply to post by OrangeJuice


Sorry, I meant no offense to either Carl or his mother. I was simply offering the devil's advocate POV, but your clarification on how he acted and what the laughter sounded like gives me reason to agree with everybody else. It sounds during quite a traumatizing moment, he responded with a spontaneous burst of emotion. Some people burst out in tears, some anger, and some, as in Carl's case, simply feel release through laughter. The emotional response is neither controlled nor intended as insulting, it just happens.

I sincerely hope nobody thought ill of poor Carl, including himself, for what happened.

reply to post by RadicalIgnoramus

You said :
What do either of those have to do with OP's question?

When somebody does something like laugh at their mom's funeral, especially during the eulogy, it's called 'decompensation.'

Many people 'on the edge' will decompensate when the stress level gets 'too high.'

So, what my cites have to do with the OP is simply this -

Pathological narcissism is thought to be the result of a prolonged period of severe abuse by primary caregivers, peers, or authority figures.

The point should be pretty obvious ...

Hope this helps.

My grandad died just over a year ago - it was the first 'death' I'd experienced close to me. I laughed at his funeral and so did my brother. For me, it wasn't because I was remembering good times - I was genuinely heartbroken and I think laughing was either my reaction to being hysterical or something my body did to stop me from crying in front of a whole church full of people that I didn't know.

Throughout the funeral I laughed, cried and felt numb - I think it's just what some people do when they can't process what is going on, or the realisation is hitting them that they will never see that person again.

I don't know anyone who laughs at funerals, but I do. Also, weddings, or if someone begs me to go to church with them ....

Maybe it's the fact that it's expected the behaviour be serious and quiet that does it. I don't know. But it can be pretty embarrassing, let me tell you!

Way back when I was a teen, my mother and I were at a wedding and we got to giggling so hard we were literally shaking. And to make it worse, the harder I try to stop the laughing, the worse it gets.

I have an unending sense of humor in regular life, maybe that's just my way, and others' way, of dealing with things like that.

It is common to think of the good times when a loved one dies...

Maybe thinking of a hilarious moment in the past, it brought back a very real vision due to the situation.

For example...

"We used to be such good friends...I remember this one time when a bird crapped on his head!" (Just all inside ones head though).