PBA or also known as Pseudobulbar affect is a neurological disease where the patent sufferers from uncontrollable laughing and crying. Usually these episodes are triggered by a specific stimuli; for example if someone says a funny joke or watches a depressing movie. These emotions can be categorized into three different characteristics. The first characteristic is exaggeration, which is when a joke is said or something sad happens and the laughter or the crying is taken way out of control. Another characteristic is too much laughter of crying. And the third is contradiction. This response is when you do the opposite of a normal response. Just like when you are in a bad situation and you start to laugh (Hamilton). In recent American statistics it states that there are around 1 to 2 million cases of PBA reported in the US alone. PBA is not a very well know disease and not well recognized thus people don't understand it and look down on people who suffer with it. They look down on people with it because of the social status that comes with having this disease. The patient understand their outbursts and cannot do anything about …show more content…
The drug amitriptyline is antidepressant that helps with pain and the incontinence. It can be taken orally using around 25 to 150 mg dosages, the option of injection is also available for patients. One of the advantages of this drug is that it can help subdue the symptoms of PBA that resemble depression. This drug also has a few cons. It causes extreme swelling of the face, tongue, lips, and face. Patients who have taken this drug have reported having hives and also experiencing worse depression than before. Nortriptyline and Citalopram are antidepressants also. These drugs also subdue the symptoms of PBA. But they come with a lot of cons. These drugs also cause allergic reactions.They cause slurred speech, confusion, outbursts of anger and vomiting