Arlazaroff A, Mester R, Spivak B, Klein C, Toren P
Department of Neurology, Assaf HaRofeh Medical Center, Tel Aviv, Israel.
Isr J Psychiatry Relat Sci. 1998;35(3):184-9.
Pathological laughter and crying is a well known clinical phenomenon which in most cases appears in association with diverse neurological and psychiatric symptoms and signs. It is not a disturbance of affectivity but rather of the motor concomitant of affective expression. Its main clinical characteristics are: absence of voluntary control and absence of the corresponding change in mood. It is not accompanied by the emotional lability of the organic brain syndromes, it does not present the inappropriate jocularity of the patients with frontal lobe disturbance, it is not due to the intoxicating effect of alcohol or addictive drugs and there are no typical symptoms of manic syndromes (such as grandiose self-esteem, flight of ideas, hyperactivity, etc.). In this paper three cases of pathological laughter are presented, two of these associated with organic brain conditions. The discussion will deal in particular with aetiological considerations and psychopathology of the third case which was unusual because it was a monosymptomatic condition and seemed to be the expression of a posttraumatic stress disorder.
病理性哭笑是一种众所周知的临床现象，在大多数情况下，它与各种神经和精神症状及体征相关联。它并非情感障碍，而是情感表达的运动伴随症状出现紊乱。其主要临床特征为：缺乏自主控制，且情绪无相应变化。它不伴有器质性脑综合征的情感不稳定，不存在额叶功能障碍患者那种不适当的诙谐，不是由酒精或成瘾药物的中毒作用所致，也没有躁狂综合征的典型症状（如自尊心膨胀、思维奔逸、多动等）。本文介绍了三例病理性哭笑病例，其中两例与器质性脑部疾病相关。讨论将特别关注第三例的病因学考量和精神病理学，该病例不同寻常，因为它是单一症状的病症，似乎是创伤后应激障碍的一种表现。
