Pseudobulbar Affect: Bahubali's 'Devsena' is a victim of this rare disease, she does not stop laughing for 15-20 minutes

Anushka Shetty, who played the role of Devsena in the film Bahubali, is suffering from a rare disease. In an interview, she said, I have a laughing disease. You may think, 'Can laughing also be a problem?' For me, it is a problem. If I start laughing, I cannot stop for 15 to 20 minutes. While watching or shooting comedy scenes, I roll on the floor laughing. Many times the shooting had to be stopped.

This is a rare disease, known in medical terms as Pseudobulbar Affect (PBA) due to which a person experiences uncontrolled emotional displays like crying, laughing, or otherwise. Usually, the Pseudobulbar effect occurs after many other types of neurological conditions. PBA is often not diagnosed correctly and is misdiagnosed as mood disorder. Let's know about this health problem.

The problem of pseudobulbar affect

This problem called pseudobulbar affect is usually caused by neurological conditions or some type of injury. The risk of this increases in a person after brain injury, diseases like Alzheimer's and Parkinson's, multiple sclerosis, or stroke. Due to such a condition, it becomes difficult to control emotions. The patient is also at risk of problems like embarrassment, isolation, anxiety, and depression.

Daily functions can also be hampered due to lack of control over emotions like crying and laughing.

How to identify it?

Frequent and involuntary crying or laughing is considered to be the primary sign of pseudobulbar affect. However, the feeling of crying has been seen more in this disease than laughter. Episodes of crying or laughing can continue for several minutes. For example, you may burst out laughing uncontrollably at even a mildly amusing comment, or you may laugh or cry a lot in situations that others would not find funny or sad.

In addition, people with this condition often have symptoms of depression.

How is this condition treated?

There is no cure for pseudobulbar affect, but some medications can help manage it. The goal of treatment is to reduce the frequency and severity of laughing or crying. Depending on the patient's symptoms, they may also need antidepressant medications in some situations.

Since this disease is caused by brain damage and neurological conditions, it is not easy to prevent it either.

(PC: Freepik, pexel)