How do you deal with having difficulty controlling your emotions in public? I often think of a time as an adult when everyone else in the room was getting emotional and it made me get emotional. I lost it for a few seconds and had to fight back an urge for a brief moment to run out of the room I was so embarrassed. I quickly regained my composure in a few seconds and I'm not sure if anyone noticed I had actually started crying. I tried to subtly check for and wipe away any tears by acting like I was scratching an itch on my face, except I'm not sure if I fooled anybody. Have any of you had experiences like that where you kind of lost it for a second when a room full of about 50 to 100 people getting emotional caused you to struggle to keep control? If so, how did you deal with it?
It's a perfectly normal, empathetic reaction to get teared up when others are crying. Why did it freak you out so bad to join them?
I shouldn't talk. I find it impossible to cry in front of other people. They tell me it's a deep seated trust issue.
The reason I had trouble is because it seemed like there were about 100 people in the church. I had trouble because my mom was having a hard time because my parents had gotten married at a young age, her kids had all grown up and left, and I was wondering how she would do on her own. I lost my train of thought for a few seconds and before I knew it, I was starting to cry and almost lost my composure for a few seconds. I quickly cleared my mind and breathed. I regain control in a few seconds and I think I played it off pretty well and I hope no one noticed.
You were at your father's funeral and you panicked that you might shed a tear?
I think that would have been okay.
There is something wrong with the concept that we can show anger, hatred, contempt to one another but shedding a tear or two is somehow a public disgrace. Scratching my head at that. I believe there is a great fear of "emotion" by some people here; they just forget that the range of emotions includes those that they have no problem succumbing to on a daily basis here.