Bruce, 56, steps into the bear’s pit on Sunday lunchtime when he takes Villa to St. Andrew’s to face arch rivals Birmingham.
And his mates reckon he must have a screw loose to keep putting himself through the 90-minute grind every week.
“This is what we’re for, this is what we all enjoy – that’s the sickness of it; the big occasion, the big game, the big derby,” said Bruce.
“Some question us as to why we do it. My mates constantly ring me and say ‘I don’t know how you do that’.
“I had a lad who came down for the first time in six months to watch the game last week and he said ‘I don’t know how you can put yourself through that, especially the last five minutes’.
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“I said ‘it’s the sickness in us – that’s what we enjoy’.
“The same goes for a big game. That’s why we’re in it really and if we lose sight of that, we shouldn’t be in it.”
Bruce added: “It’s a big, huge game that matters to the supporters of both teams.
“So you try to enjoy the occasion, you hope it’s your day, you hope you get the bounce of the ball, and you hope you play well.
“All of those things are why we’re in it.”
Villa’s derby hero Gabby Agbonlahor has to sit this one out with a calf injury.
The Brummie striker, 31, has hit five goals in 10 games against Blues but has been out since September 9.
“I can’t see Gabby making it. He’s got a bad calf,” said Bruce. “Unless he goes to the see the Messiah and walks in raring to go tomorrow.”
Jack Grealish, Henri Lansbury and Mile Jedinak all have a chance of playing though.
“Lansbury’s injury is still niggling away at him, Jack has had two games under his belt in four months and Mile has trained for the last week but hasn’t played since last May really,” added Bruce.
“So that would be a big call but they’re all in contention so we’ll see what we do.”
Villa have been unbeaten in the league against their enemies for 10 league meetings back to 2005, when Bruce was manager of Blues, while they have won five out of their last six Championship outings to climb to fifth.
But the former Manchester United defender admits derbies are a great leveller and is taking nothing for granted.
“In my experience, form, what’s happened in the previous week, previous year, goes out of the window,” he said.
“It’s another occasion. We’ve had the better of them of late and let’s hope it stays the that way this year.
“I was at Cardiff and they thoroughly deserved to win.
“If there’s ever a challenge in the Championship it’s the difference in styles, in terms of what Birmingham are going to throw at us to what Fulham did last week.
“It’s total opposites on the scale. We know what to expect. I’m sure Steve (Cotterill) will have his team well organised, well drilled and well marshalled.”