Inappropriate Affect

Hey ya'll
new to the forum.
I was diagnosed with psychosis when I was 17 then schizophrenia when I was 19 and now I'm 23.
I have a lot of symptoms but the one that is getting me into trouble lately is inappropriate affect. Or at least I think it is. My girlfriend and I have been fighting and I keep laughing when I shouldn't be. She'll tell me she is leaving and I'll just have a "smug look on my face" and I'll start laughing. But really I don't think it is funny and I don't want her to leave. Has anyone else had this symptom and if so, how have you dealt with it?

thanks

Hello, welcome to the forum.

I have actually never heard of this. I've been the mod of this forum for over two years now, have met a lot of other Schizophrenic people, but usually, when stuff gets tense, like between you and your girlfriend, it's generally a flat affect. No emotion shown whatsoever. Just a blank stare, monotone voice, basic and simple response such as "Okay" or "alright".

I'm not a doctor, and we're not allowed to diagnose people on here, but this could possibly be from something else. I saw in another thread on here that you have a history of drug abuse, correct? What drugs have you abused? It's possible that one of them could be causing this as a long lasting effect from the abuse. Overall, I'd recommend talking to your psych doctor about it.

Hope this helps.

Hi fragments,

I've heard of inappropriate affect before. I've also heard it be called "incongruent affect" in response to my own behavior before, by a psychologist I had, and they're basically the same thing, it's just inappropriate affect is used more commonly as a term. I laugh at things I shouldn't, and not because I think they're funny; or I smile and giggle and not because I think those things are titillating. I also won't have a very emotional response to something "happy" or whatever, exciting, whatever, sad, whatever, to things that are going on or things that people are saying. It really depends on my mental state though. It happens more often if I'm stressed and distracted by my own world, and less often when I'm not as stress/distracted. I also noticed I had a lot of issues with flattened affect and "smug" looks when I was on medication.

I kind of just roll with the punches. Sometimes I apologize, sometimes I don't because I really don't have to, it all depends on the other person's reaction. I think it's also important for the other person, especially a significant other, since this is a constant struggle for you, to be very aware of how separate your reactions are from your actual feelings. They have to be on the same level as you, and just as aware of it as you are, or else things won't work out. It's a hard conversation, but one worthwhile. If they can't comprehend that, or aren't willing to work on an understanding . . . well, you can only do so much.

Anyway, just my thoughts.

Yup, my mom and I do this. We both laugh at things that we don't find funny, and will on occasion cry when not feeling even a hint of sadness. Most times it's flat effect, but occasionally, like Alucard said, I'll do it randomly when extremely anxious. If I'm around someone at the time who acts weirded out, I'll apologize, and act tired, claiming I haven't slept well in days saying it's either making me slap happy or emotional.