Have people said you look angry (when you're not)?

Page 1 of 4 [ 51 posts ]  Go to page 1, 2, 3, 4  Next

IAmTheCatalyst
Snowy Owl
Snowy Owl

User avatar

Joined: 15 Sep 2014
Age: 28
Gender: Female
Posts: 137
Location: The Known Universe

25 Sep 2014, 9:50 pm

All the time. Or that I look "entirely emotionless" when in fact, I'm very upset. I also tend to laugh at the wrong times when I'm nervous or sad and some people think I'm being rude to them on purpose. :?


_________________
Officially DXed: ASD. Un DXed: EDNOS (Eating Disorder Not Otherwise Specified).


L_Holmes
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 18 Jul 2014
Gender: Male
Posts: 1,468
Location: Twin Falls, ID

25 Sep 2014, 10:02 pm

IAmTheCatalyst wrote:
I also tend to laugh at the wrong times when I'm nervous or sad and some people think I'm being rude to them on purpose. :?


Yes, I do this occasionally too. I don't know why, but often when someone is telling me that something very serious happened I feel an urge to smile or laugh, and I really don't know why. It is very hard to hide too, so it is pretty frustrating as I know I don't actually find what they are saying to be funny, but there's no easy way to explain that.


_________________
"It has long been an axiom of mine that the little things are infinitely the most important."

- Sherlock Holmes


IAmTheCatalyst
Snowy Owl
Snowy Owl

User avatar

Joined: 15 Sep 2014
Age: 28
Gender: Female
Posts: 137
Location: The Known Universe

25 Sep 2014, 10:15 pm

L_Holmes wrote:
Yes, I do this occasionally too. I don't know why, but often when someone is telling me that something very serious happened I feel an urge to smile or laugh, and I really don't know why. It is very hard to hide too, so it is pretty frustrating as I know I don't actually find what they are saying to be funny, but there's no easy way to explain that.


Mmmhmm. Just yesterday it happened. A relative's kid fell and hit her head (she was fine), and I was worried of course, but I had to hold back laughter. I'm glad she didn't glance over at me.


_________________
Officially DXed: ASD. Un DXed: EDNOS (Eating Disorder Not Otherwise Specified).


Raleigh
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 7 Jul 2014
Age: 124
Gender: Non-binary
Posts: 34,218
Location: Out of my mind

26 Sep 2014, 12:07 am

IAmTheCatalyst wrote:
All the time. Or that I look "entirely emotionless" when in fact, I'm very upset. I also tend to laugh at the wrong times when I'm nervous or sad and some people think I'm being rude to them on purpose. :?

I tend to laugh when someone gets angry, which could prove dangerous if you laugh at the wrong kind of person. It's a nervous reaction.


_________________
It's like I'm sleepwalking


IAmTheCatalyst
Snowy Owl
Snowy Owl

User avatar

Joined: 15 Sep 2014
Age: 28
Gender: Female
Posts: 137
Location: The Known Universe

26 Sep 2014, 12:21 am

Raleigh wrote:
IAmTheCatalyst wrote:
All the time. Or that I look "entirely emotionless" when in fact, I'm very upset. I also tend to laugh at the wrong times when I'm nervous or sad and some people think I'm being rude to them on purpose. :?

I tend to laugh when someone gets angry, which could prove dangerous if you laugh at the wrong kind of person. It's a nervous reaction.


Yes, I do that one as well. Not fun at all.


_________________
Officially DXed: ASD. Un DXed: EDNOS (Eating Disorder Not Otherwise Specified).


Evil_Chuck
Velociraptor
Velociraptor

User avatar

Joined: 24 Aug 2014
Age: 38
Gender: Male
Posts: 494
Location: Lost in my thoughts.

26 Sep 2014, 1:13 am

Yes, all the time. "Scowling" is the word they use sometimes. People have become so used to performing for each other that the absence of a smile is considered a bad thing. But it doesn't mean I'm angry; usually I'm just thinking.


_________________
RAADS-R SCORE: 163.0

FUNNY DEATH METAL LYRICS OF THE WEEK: 'DEMON'S WIND' BY VADER
Clammy frog descends
Demon's wind, the stars answer your desire
Join the undead, that's the place you'll never leave
You wanna die... but death cannot do us apart...


progaspie
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 22 Jul 2011
Age: 70
Gender: Male
Posts: 673
Location: Australia

26 Sep 2014, 1:42 am

Yes, I get that all the time. The thing is I'm not angry when I say something, but people close to me who I think should know me better, say that I am. Then I exclaim that I'm not angry. They don't believe me! Then I try to tone down what I'm saying and lose the thread of the conversation. Perhaps that's what people wanted in the first place. To shut me up.



BirdInFlight
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 8 Jun 2013
Age: 62
Gender: Female
Posts: 4,501
Location: If not here, then where?

26 Sep 2014, 4:14 am

No, not angry, but they do seem to think I look sad or worried. I've been plagued all my life by comments from perfect strangers: "Cheer up!" "Smile, it may never happen!" When I'm walking along feeling perfectly neutral, not sad.

My face "at rest" is just a bit sad looking but it's because I'm nearly always tired and lost in thought.

When I'm truly feeling sad I actively try to hide that and put on what I think is my neutral face. Something obviously is not working...



jk1
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 30 Sep 2012
Gender: Male
Posts: 6,817

26 Sep 2014, 4:42 am

People don't say I look angry but their reactions suggest that they think I'm angry. Some people start talking to me very carefully/tactfully not to "further offend me", almost trying to pacify a difficult customer. Others respond by getting angry themselves at "my anger", raising their voice, when I think I'm being polite and friendly and there's absolutely no negative factor in the situation. Still others start trying to explain themselves as if they had to. I believe it's mostly because my fear of people makes me tense/nervous and people falsely sense "anger" in my tense voice and facial expression. It's really sad that I get misunderstood in this way very often. Not all people get it wrong though.



Sweetleaf
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 6 Jan 2011
Age: 34
Gender: Female
Posts: 34,461
Location: Somewhere in Colorado

26 Sep 2014, 5:14 am

No most of the time if I look angry I am angry.


_________________
We won't go back.


beady
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 22 Sep 2013
Age: 64
Gender: Female
Posts: 885

26 Sep 2014, 5:24 am

I have had people say this to me when I was just sitting thinking or during a conversation. I think my natural face is kind of angry looking. Maybe its that we are so focused on figuring the world out that the strain shows on our faces. I try to be more conscious of what face I have on.



Jensen
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 15 Feb 2013
Age: 70
Gender: Female
Posts: 3,013
Location: Denmark

26 Sep 2014, 6:30 am

As child and young adult I often heard, "smile!", "Uh! You look angry", "Did I pee on your sugarcake?", or "Stop looking like the muse of sorrow" - and all, I could register,. was a sometimes painful tension in my face.
Didn´t know it had to do with autism either.


_________________
Femaline
Special Interest: Beethoven


leeflea
Emu Egg
Emu Egg

User avatar

Joined: 24 Sep 2014
Age: 24
Gender: Male
Posts: 3
Location: Victoria, Australia

26 Sep 2014, 6:54 am

I have been asked that question fairly frequently for the past few years. Just because I look angry doesn't mean I am angry. I am usually quite released most of the time.



ReticentJaeger
Veteran
Veteran

Joined: 22 Feb 2014
Gender: Female
Posts: 1,127

26 Sep 2014, 7:05 am

L_Holmes wrote:
IAmTheCatalyst wrote:
I also tend to laugh at the wrong times when I'm nervous or sad and some people think I'm being rude to them on purpose. :?


Yes, I do this occasionally too. I don't know why, but often when someone is telling me that something very serious happened I feel an urge to smile or laugh, and I really don't know why. It is very hard to hide too, so it is pretty frustrating as I know I don't actually find what they are saying to be funny, but there's no easy way to explain that.


I have a problem with smiling when something really bad happens to someone. Last year my teacher announced that she was getting treated for breast cancer. I had to cover my face.



RocketMom
Yellow-bellied Woodpecker
Yellow-bellied Woodpecker

User avatar

Joined: 24 Sep 2014
Gender: Female
Posts: 55

26 Sep 2014, 2:31 pm

Yep. My whole life. My husband fondly calls it "resting b**** face" - when we first got together he asked me all the time if I was mad or sad. Now he knows i just don't have a "friendly" neutral expression.

I'm only just now putting the pieces together that I have AS tendencies since we are seeing evaluation for my oldest child. Explains sooooo much...including my "resting b**** face" that I wasn't aware of for the longest time.



skibum
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 18 Jul 2013
Age: 57
Gender: Female
Posts: 8,295
Location: my own little world

26 Sep 2014, 2:49 pm

Yes. people have told me that I look angry when I am not. Some have even insisted that I am even after I have told them that I am not. It happens when I am overloaded and zoned on or super concentrating on something and no one realizes that that is what I am doing.


_________________
"I'm bad and that's good. I'll never be good and that's not bad. There's no one I'd rather be than me."

Wreck It Ralph