Why do people hide their pain behind laughter?
I think that's an intriguing question, and one that has reality wrapped around it. We can say that the case isn't true for all people as some tend to show their pain, burdens and what they're going through. They don't hold within whatever they feel but are comfortable with letting it out. There are such people and then there are the ones who this prompt is talking about; those who hide their pains behind smiles and laughter, even jokes.
We can agree that life is currently a lot for many people and they're going through one thing or another. It could be the general state of life and the struggles. It could be one event or another that left them hurt, causing pains that they're still working through. The reality of several people isn't from the aforementioned, and while they have the pains they bear, they don't express or show them, but rather hide them behind smiles and laughter.
Why is this so? Why do people choose to hide rather than show and express their pains, when in conversations, interacting with people and so on, even when they might be fighting great battles? Different reasons can account for this. It's considered that some people are usually the ones making others happy, so they try to keep up with that, thereby shielding their own pains and burdens because they have people to make happy.
In some cases, people don't want others to know what they're going through. They aren't ready to have the conversation so they keep it far away by keeping a cheerful and friendly facade while managing the issue within. This could make a person hide what they're going through. It could be that they don't expect to get the support they might need or that people won't understand them or their situation.
When others look to one for motivation and encouragement, it's hard for such a person to find it easy, convenient and comfortable to communicate their pains. It's sometimes from a place of selflessness and impact. And while the world today wants to encourage people to learn to voice out and not hide their pains, people should be careful who they do that with. It could help them if they get the help they need, or break them if it goes otherwise.