Paul Pugh is a Welsh man who was brutally attacked by strangers, one of them violently punched him in the head. Over time, Paul developed an uncomfortable symptom: pathological laughter. Pathological laughter is a brain disorder. It is expressed as an uncontrollable laugh, which is not related to the situation that produces it, at first it sounds like a strange pathology, but it is a very dramatic disease.
This condition is known by several names. The technical term is “gelstic epilepsy”. However, it is also called “demonic smile” or “laughing incontinence”. Did Paul Pugh’s case become famous? Pathological laughter, if it became popular.
“Man suffers so terribly in the world that he was forced to invent laughter. “Friedrich Nietzsche
One of the best-known cases is that of Paul Pugh, whose tragedy began one night in 2007, he was at a party with friends, on his way home he met four men who inexplicably began beating him.
The blows were so strong that his skull was fractured and Paul, who was 27 at the time, went into a coma and remained so for two months. He had to relearn how to do even the simplest tasks, such as walking, eating and talking. He seemed to have recovered from his traumas when something unexpected happened.
During an appointment with his doctors, they began to talk about the aftermath of the attack and Paul was very impressed. He felt a great urge to cry and, in his mind and heart, began to do so, yet, outwardly, he could only laugh. He had a pathological laugh: he cried inside, but he laughed on the outside.
At first, he received only a great social rejection, doctors over time realized what was going on. Did they call him a pseudobulb disease? (PBA) Part of his brain had shut down. When this happens, a person may experience attacks of pathological laughter as well as crying. Over the years, Paul has managed to control nine out of ten pathological laughter attacks.
Those who have this problem suffer a lot. His life becomes a constant anguish. Because of their “inappropriate” behavior, they tend to isolate themselves. Patients say it’s terrible to feel an emotion intensely and express another that has nothing to do with it.
Pathological laughter or pathological crying appear for several reasons, it is more common to arise after trauma, as in Paul’s case, however, they can also be caused by different abnormal neurological conditions.
There are cases of people with multiple sclerosis who have also developed such symptoms, pathological laughter has also been reported in people with Alzheimer’s disease, any condition that directly affects the brain can cause this painful symptom.
Brain tumors can also cause this problem. Apparently, what’s involved in this case is a disconnect between the brain, cerebellum and spinal bulb. The hypothalamus is also known to have a relationship.
Psychiatry also records cases of pathological laughter with different causes. This is what we generically call “emotional incontinence. ” This is due to mental conditions in which emotions are expressed in an exaggerated way. The person cannot suppress laughter, crying, or other emotions. They also associate it with cases of dementia caused by vascular problems.
There are certain types of schizophrenia that cause these episodes of pathological laughter; it is also common for them to occur because of the use of psychoactive drugs; it is common knowledge that marijuana use causes uncontrollable laughter in many people; In addition, some autism spectrum disorders cause similar symptoms.
Most sad of all, those with this problem tend to have other side effects. According to a survey conducted at the Institute of Psychology at the University of Freiburg (Germany), more than half of these patients have other problems. The IQ decreases and different cognitive problems appear.
Treatments for this problem are very limited and basically there is no cure. However, people like Paul Pugh have set a good example, can detect the moment before a pathological laugh attack, immediately makes you think of awkward scenes and prevents you from laughing, however your life is very limited by this problem.