[Anonymous]

Hi everyone,

I really need some help I am becoming increasingly desperate to find an answer; at and early age I was diagnosed with Autistic Spectrum Disorder I have noticed for along time that I haven't laughed hard, or barely laughed at all! It is hard to describe it's the type of laughter when you laugh so hard your eyes water and you laugh out loud. Well, everytime I see something funny I understand the humourous elements and I realise it is supposed to be hilarious, but I might smile and that's it.

I want to be able to laugh properly at comedy shows such as Mock the Week, Live at the Apollo, Tramadol Nights, Russell Howard's Good News etc. I understand some of the jokes that are being told and that they're are supposed to be hilarious, but I cannot genuinely laugh at them, I end up performing a fake laugh. I've questioned myself about this, could it be that a limited belief system of disatisfaction with life could have a negative impact on a sense of humour? I don't know if I even have a sense of humour to say the least. I have felt like this for a long time and I really want to have some advice about this particular issue as well as the rest, but this is as vitally important..

I really want to start laughing again but I have a feeling that something is wrong, I do feel that life can be so much better and I am completely unsatisfied with my current position in life. I don't know if this could have a negative impact on a sense of humour..
Please, if anyone feels the same way or know what could be the cause of the problem then I would be very grateful.

[Anonymous]

Anyone?

[CJKay]

I don't think there's anything particular wrong with the way you react to humour. I find shows like Mock the Week hilarious, but it's rare that I'll give anything more than a "hah" or just an under-the-breath "hehehe".

I think if you find something funny, even if you can't laugh at it, there's nothing wrong with that at all. How do you think people like Rich Hall do their day jobs? The man hasn't smiled in years and still manages to be one of the funniest guys!

[Anonymous]

(Original post by CJKay)
I don't think there's anything particular wrong with the way you react to humour. I find shows like Mock the Week hilarious, but it's rare that I'll give anything more than a "hah" or just an under-the-breath "hehehe".

I think if you find something funny, even if you can't laugh at it, there's nothing wrong with that at all. How do you think people like Rich Hall do their day jobs? The man hasn't smiled in years and still manages to be one of the funniest guys!

Thanks for the response, I've posted stuff on here before on the Mental Health section as anonymous and I hardly got any replies...

I recently tried to make up some jokes to try and entertain people...

[Anonymous]

I've looked everywhere on Google to find out what could be wrong and I've found nothing which has been of relevance and assistance..

[Anonymous]

Hi

I hope you're not letting this issue worry you too much or otherwise get you down. Having never met you I can only say so much, and so far in my life I haven't really encountered many people with autism-related afflictions. Nontheless I can't say my mind has been the most under control the past 3 years, having quite abruptly entered a prolonged state of anxiety, depression and ocd-type symptoms in June 09 which thankfully has gradually gotten better since then. I think around this time last year I began worrying a lot about whether I truly found things like television programs funny and whether there was anything which could actually prompt a natural, out of control laugh from me. After a while I realised I found things much funnier when I wasn't thinking about this sort of thing, and indeed whenever I was and looking back my mind always managed to cloud over all the times when I had found something genuinely hilarious. I think it's sometimes rather easy when you're in an un-emotive state to look back at a time and forget how happy you actually felt at the time itself. So I guess my advice would be do your best not to let it worry you. If you find you're always thinking about it don't worry about that either. In my experience I've found that if i just accept I'm going through a phase where I'm not feeling a certain emotion, the phase will eventually pass, usually without me even realising until weeks and weeks later.
I might also suggest not worrying if you don't find some of those particular shows laugh-out-loud funny all the time. Maybe your sense of humour has other tastes, and if you discover something that you yourself find hilarious but most other people don't quite get don't waste time fighting it just because your tastes aren't completely conventional. Your sense of humor is your sense of humor - I'm willing to bet it'll show up when and where it does, but it'll probably do so easier if you're not constantly worrying about it.

[Anonymous]

(Original post by Anonymous)
Hi

I hope you're not letting this issue worry you too much or otherwise get you down. Having never met you I can only say so much, and so far in my life I haven't really encountered many people with autism-related afflictions. Nontheless I can't say my mind has been the most under control the past 3 years, having quite abruptly entered a prolonged state of anxiety, depression and ocd-type symptoms in June 09 which thankfully has gradually gotten better since then. I think around this time last year I began worrying a lot about whether I truly found things like television programs funny and whether there was anything which could actually prompt a natural, out of control laugh from me. After a while I realised I found things much funnier when I wasn't thinking about this sort of thing, and indeed whenever I was and looking back my mind always managed to cloud over all the times when I had found something genuinely hilarious. I think it's sometimes rather easy when you're in an un-emotive state to look back at a time and forget how happy you actually felt at the time itself. So I guess my advice would be do your best not to let it worry you. If you find you're always thinking about it don't worry about that either. In my experience I've found that if i just accept I'm going through a phase where I'm not feeling a certain emotion, the phase will eventually pass, usually without me even realising until weeks and weeks later.
I might also suggest not worrying if you don't find some of those particular shows laugh-out-loud funny all the time. Maybe your sense of humour has other tastes, and if you discover something that you yourself find hilarious but most other people don't quite get don't waste time fighting it just because your tastes aren't completely conventional. Your sense of humor is your sense of humor - I'm willing to bet it'll show up when and where it does, but it'll probably do so easier if you're not constantly worrying about it.

Hey, sorry I haven't replied for a while..

I do confused when I think about humour, I always think there is a cause for why I don't laugh. I don't know my sense of humour and I can't find anything that's useful to me. Is it normal to not have a sense of humour? I keep lying to myself about these kind of things and contradicting myself. If you knew what was going on in my head you'd understand how I feel about this. When I think about this, to many information gets into my head and I come to a conclusion that nobody feels like what I do, as though it cannot be described.

I keep thinking too much and overcomplicate my thoughts and feelings and I end up getting confused; I don't genuinely feel depressed about it but I wish I knew why I don't laugh as much. I always think there is a genuine cause as to why I'm in this situation. I cannot find this answer. I've looked on websites and I don't find the information I want. I would discuss with this to you on PM but since we're both anonymous I'd have to do it here..

[master roflcopter]

(Original post by Anonymous)
I keep thinking too much and overcomplicate my thoughts and feelings and I end up getting confused; I don't genuinely feel depressed about it but I wish I knew why I don't laugh as much. I always think there is a genuine cause as to why I'm in this situation. I cannot find this answer..

Honestly? Maybe you just have a different sense of humour to other people you know. It really doesn't matter; different people find different things funny, in fact some people don't really ever properly 'laugh' laugh. Some people have a more dry sense of humour and some are more raucous, I know personally I can be both, depending on the situation.

If it bothers you, though, maybe just try to look around and get a wider sense of different types of humour, and maybe you'll find out exactly what sort of things you do find funny?