Alberto Nunez Feijoowho was the candidate for the presidency of the Spanish government from the Popular Party, was present today for an interview in Public mirrorin which he made his first statements of this type after taking office Pedro Sanchez as president. In this interview he referred to some of Sanchez’s statements during investment debate, specifically referring to his laughter in one of the speeches in which he addressed him. According to Feijoo, this is not the way to behave in Congress, and it may be pathological laughter. He even calls for the program to invite a medical specialist to assess whether the government president might be sick.
Unsurprisingly, this caused quite a bit of hilarity on social media. In the speech he refers to, Pedro Sanchez joked about Feijoo’s statements in which he said that if he does not become president, it will be because he does not want it. The very fact of remembering this evoked laughter To the Prime Minister, who infected a significant part of those present. The fact that Feijoo is now defending himself by claiming that it could have been pathological laughter only awakens more laughter. But could he be right?
You don’t need a scientific article to know that this is not true. This is Pedro Sanchez This is not pathological laughter, but laughter resulting from a rather comical situation. But putting that aside, could laughter be linked to illness? Actually yes, although, we insist, they have nothing to do with Pedro Sánchez’s views on the investiture debate.
Uncontrollable laughter in the cinema
It is not in the investiture debate, but in a relatively recent and successful box office film that we see a potentially real example of pathological laughter. In particular, in tell jokesR.
Its main character Arthur Fleck, clearly has a number of mental health problems, but at first all we see is that he suffers from uncontrollable fits of laughter, usually associated with a very emotionally charged situation. His illness is such that he must carry a card with him that says that he is not making fun of anyone, but that he has neurological disorder this makes me laugh so much.
This disorder, although not directly mentioned in the film, may be gelastic epilepsy. This is a type of epilepsy in which the main symptom is abnormal laughter that cannot be controlled. Although it may also be accompanied by other symptoms such as episodes of anger and irritability. Everything we see in the Joker.
But gelastic epilepsy is not the only disease that may be associated with pathological laughter. For laughter to be considered such, it must occur without cause, out of proportion to the emotional stimulus that supposedly caused it, and in an uncontrollable and uncontrollable manner. It’s true that there are people who have a harder time holding back their laughter. Especially in a nervous situation. Who hasn’t experienced one of those bouts of almost uncontrollable laughter in an awkward situation?
They tend to have an origin that is sometimes very small, but can be increased by nervous situation. Perhaps the same thing would have happened with Pedro Sanchez. The investment debate, although seemingly under control, is still a stressful situation. It might have increased the laughter, but its origin was more than justified.
Other causes of pathological laughter
In addition to gelastic epilepsy, there are other neurological diseases that can be accompanied by pathological laughter. bulbar and pseudobulbar palsy and cerebrovascular diseases.
The first occurs due to unilateral or bilateral lesions corticobulbar motor pathways, which are responsible for voluntary movements of the neck and face. Among them, of course, is laughter. It can be associated with many diseases, from atherosclerosis to stroke, including multiple sclerosis.
In these cases there may be incentive, but laughter exaggeratedly disproportionate. Not like when we are in a situation where we know we shouldn’t laugh and we laugh more and more. This is something that is clearly seen as pathological.
As for cerebrovascular diseases, damage to the blood vessels of the brain can cause symptoms such as uncontrollable pathological laughter, which prolongs within hours.
But neurological disorders are not the only ones that can cause pathological laughter. This also occurs, for example, in mental illnesses such as schizophrenia or narcolepsy. In the first case, laughter appears suddenly; patients do not know why they laugh, but feel obligated to continue doing it. It’s a completely different story with narcolepsy. Constant sleepiness leads to loss of muscle tone, which can cause laughter. But in fact, it’s not even laughter as such.
What happened to Pedro Sanchez?
In short, yes, pathological laughter exists. And no, Pedro Sanchez is fine. Using mental or neurological health to attack political opponent, since there are so many people with real pretenses, it is morally questionable. Let’s enjoy the laughter. When it comes in a healthy way, it is one of the most wonderful feelings a person can experience.
Source: Hiper Textual
