I just had a realization about a strange quirk I had when I was in high school. I used to giggle at times when I should be scared or angry. Once a bully pushed me against a wall and threatened to beat me up. I started giggling. I couldn’t help it. He was so taken aback he changed his mind and left. That’s just one example.

Now I think I understand why, and it’s related to “you’re too sensitive.” My family had me convinced of that to the point that I thought abusive teasing was just harmless joking, and laughing it off was the only way to stop it. I got really good at replacing anger with laughter. And the worse the teasing, the harder I had to work to laugh it off. So, when the teasing turned into physical bullying, that ingrained response went to maximum and I simply couldn’t stop myself from giggling.

Has anyone else had a similar realization?