There are several normal ways people process terrible news. Some people get angry, some people cry and get depressed, some people get drunk so they don’t have to think about it.
Always the rebel I don’t do any other that (at least not at first), I have my own system.
First, I have a small break down where I twitch, laugh like a crazy person, and talk about what’s happening very loudly and making inappropriate jokes. Usually I can contain this enough to only do it in front of people who know me well enough to not be horribly offended, which is good.
Then I get a hold of anyone and everyone I know going through something rough who don’t know what’s happening to me, and coax them into telling me everything about their terrible situation cause I feel a lot better being the comforter than the comforted.
Finally, I go about my normal life, but insert whatever’s happening in my life into every conversation in my mind.
(Anyone who knows my family, my grandpa did not die and my mom does not have cancer. I’m just using them as examples. Don’t panic.)
I cry when bad things happen but mostly only when other people bring them up (over and over and over again – why in the heck do they do that?). If I’m left alone to process it on my own terms I’m ok.
I think your coping mechanisms are far more interesting, though.
I totally understand. I tend to laugh when I’m upset or scared, which can be weird and upsetting to others.
Grieving is so personal. My hairdresser’s step mother just passed. She told me she is not going to hug any of her children at the funeral. She had been very sick for the last 2 years and she helped her dad with her care, A LOT. The birth children, not at all. She’s mad. It’s become part of her grief. I hope she gets over it. I adore your cartoons. <3
I think we are twins because I do that too. I felt so guilty b/c I couldn’t cry when my best friend died in Jr. High. But I had been through so much crap already in my life, I was numb. (ok – later I cried but it was at a inappropriate time and had nothing to do with the original incident)