i know the veep Fandom on this site is mostly dead but i just need to talk about my favorite scene in the whole show because i've rewatched the whole series several times in the last month and it still makes me laugh so hard i can't breathe. it's near the end of season 3 when kent tells selina that POTUS is stepping down and she's going to be the new president, so she steps into the restroom to process the news but it's this horrible dingy dirty single-stall bathroom and gary comes in to ask her if she needs anything and when she tells him the news he starts weeping with joy and his nose starts bleeding PROFUSELY and they're both laughing super hard as selina goes through gary's Bag for tissues and keeps finding the most random shit in there and they're laughing so hard that no sound is coming out and when kent pops in to see if everything's ok he's greeted with this
and he's like. that's okay ma'am don't let me disturb you. and leaves.
"At least my trauma made me funny" No, it did not. I am saying this gently, not to be cruel.
You crack jokes about the terrible things that happened you to convince both other people and yourself that it wasn't so bad, and that it didn't actually hurt you that much. Laughter is a social signal that communicates a lack of danger, saying that it's safe to relax now. Feeling the urge to laugh when you are scared or otherwise stressed is an involuntary self-soothing measure as well -- laughter releases endorphins and relieves stress, it decreases your cortisol levels. That's why laughing in relief after narrowly avoiding something terrifying is so common. The entire purpose of laughter is to say, to yourself and those around you, "it will be okay."
On top of that, you are caught between the basic, pack animal desire to seek support by telling other people what happened to you, and the distrustful, self-protective desire to insist that you are fine. You say "I got hurt, but it's no big deal," in the hopes that someone kind will realize the latter part is a lie and somehow help you, and that someone cruel will believe you are very difficult to seriously harm and thus not sense weakness in you to prey upon.
Recounting your trauma is not funny, it is stressful to you.