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#269100 - Wed Jun 08 2005 08:19 PM Pathological laughter
quogequox Prolific Registered: Sat Sep 15 2001 Posts: 1050 Loc: Adelaide SA Australia	Is there a medical term or terms for pathological laughter? And more importantly what is it? Im trying to find a medical term to describe a condition of uncontrollable laughter. So any input would be help. Why you ask? We need to name a racehorse. It's parents being named Happy Giggle and Bent! _________________________ Never moon a werewolf.
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#269101 - Wed Jun 08 2005 08:37 PM Re: Pathological laughter
ktstew Forum Champion Registered: Tue Jan 18 2005 Posts: 8717 Loc: Arkansas USA	The only legit medical condition that springs to mind is commonly called Tourette Sydrome. This is a neurological disorder which results in various forms of involuntary behavior, ranging from twitching and incessant crying to uncontrollable laughter and rages! If you need more information, try www.tourettesydromeplus.net _________________________ A lie can travel half way around the world while the truth is just putting on its shoes - Mark Twain
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#269102 - Wed Jun 08 2005 08:50 PM Re: Pathological laughter
ktstew Forum Champion Registered: Tue Jan 18 2005 Posts: 8717 Loc: Arkansas USA	I realize this probably isn't the romantic race horse name you had hoped for. Maybe there is some other textbook ailment out there more pleasing to the ear! _________________________ A lie can travel half way around the world while the truth is just putting on its shoes - Mark Twain
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#269103 - Wed Jun 08 2005 09:14 PM Re: Pathological laughter
Gatsby722 Pure Diamond Registered: Fri May 18 2001 Posts: 123698 Loc: Canton Ohio USA	How about naming the horse "A Little Crooked" ? _________________________ "The best teacher is not the one who knows most but the one who is most capable of reducing knowledge to that simple compound of the obvious and wonderful." ... H. L. Mencken
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#269104 - Wed Jun 08 2005 09:23 PM Re: Pathological laughter
ktstew Forum Champion Registered: Tue Jan 18 2005 Posts: 8717 Loc: Arkansas USA	Honestly, Gats! _________________________ A lie can travel half way around the world while the truth is just putting on its shoes - Mark Twain
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#269105 - Thu Jun 09 2005 02:12 AM Re: Pathological laughter
MotherGoose Forum Champion Registered: Mon Apr 22 2002 Posts: 5007 Loc: Western Australia	I teach medical terminology and I am not familiar with a medical term for pathological laughter. I tried all my various resources and it seems it is just usually called "pathological laughter". However, there is a particular ailment called Angelman syndrome, also known as "happy puppet" syndrome, and pathological laughter is one of its main features. Perhaps Angelman or Happy Puppet might be good names for your horse. _________________________ Don't say "I can't" ... say " I haven't learned how, yet." (Reg Bolton)
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#269106 - Thu Jun 09 2005 07:49 AM Re: Pathological laughter
ozzz2002 Moderator Registered: Mon Dec 03 2001 Posts: 20912 Loc: Sydney NSW Australia	Perhaps the word 'Hysteria' is what you are looking for?
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#269107 - Thu Jun 09 2005 11:34 AM Re: Pathological laughter
sue943 Administrator Registered: Sun Dec 19 1999 Posts: 38005 Loc: Jersey Channel Islands	Ozzz2002 you beat me to it! _________________________ Many a child has been spoiled because you can't spank a Grandma!
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#269108 - Thu Jun 09 2005 10:09 PM Re: Pathological laughter
MotherGoose Forum Champion Registered: Mon Apr 22 2002 Posts: 5007 Loc: Western Australia	Medically speaking, hysteria is not the same thing as pathological laughter. In fact, hysteria is no longer accepted as legitimate terminology for mental disorders which feature emotional instability. However, it would make a good name for a racehorse. _________________________ Don't say "I can't" ... say " I haven't learned how, yet." (Reg Bolton)
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#269109 - Sun Jun 12 2005 06:47 PM Re: Pathological laughter
damnsuicidalroos Multiloquent Registered: Mon Feb 10 2003 Posts: 2167 Loc: Sydney NSW Australia	I think the most apt terminology for such an illness is PLC. Pathological laughter and crying. It seems a suitable name for a racehorse as it covers both winning and losing. With this illness you can laugh at sad news and as a racehorse owner this might be seen as sportsmanship, you can also cry at good news and this might be perceived by others as crying with happiness. Quote: Pathological laughter and crying (PLC) is a condition defined by relatively uncontrollable episodes of laughter, crying or both. The episodes either do not have an apparent motivating stimulus or are triggered by a stimulus that would not have led the subject to laugh or cry prior to the onset of the condition. In some instances, the stimulus may have an emotional valence contrary to the emotional expression. For example, patients can laugh in response to sad news or cry in response to a moving hand in the visual field, and the expression of laughter can abruptly change to crying (Poeck, 1985). PLC is a disorder of emotional expression rather than a primary disturbance of feelings. It is distinguishable from the mood disorders in which laughter and crying are associated with feelings of happiness or sadness, and from regular laughter or crying in which the emotional expression is consonant with the triggering stimulus. However, the essence of the actual laughter or crying behaviours (e.g. the facial expressions, the tears, etc.) is identical in PLC, in mood disorders and in the normal condition. From here. _________________________ Responds to stimuli, tries to communicate verbally, follows limited commands, laughs or cries in interaction with loved ones.
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#269110 - Mon Jun 13 2005 05:52 PM Re: Pathological laughter
flem-ish Enthusiast Registered: Thu Oct 11 2001 Posts: 319 Loc: Belgium	Laughter as a disease? And what about laughter doing harm to people? In my language - let's call it Dutch - there are a surprisingly large number of idioms which all suggest that laughter can be harmful: to laugh oneself to sickness, to laugh oneself to death; to laugh oneself a cripple.. So now my real question: can you do harm to yourself by laughing?
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#269111 - Sat Jul 23 2005 02:06 PM Re: Pathological laughter
Flynn_17 Prolific Registered: Tue May 17 2005 Posts: 1138 Loc: Hull Yorkshire England UK	Are you maybe thinking of Kuru, the laughing disease? _________________________ Oh, a functional love life is like icing a cake - you've got to concentrate!
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#269112 - Sat Jul 23 2005 02:12 PM Re: Pathological laughter
MaggieG Enthusiast Registered: Sat Aug 09 2003 Posts: 485 Loc: Wales UK	Quote: Laughter as a disease? And what about laughter doing harm to people? In my language - let's call it Dutch - there are a surprisingly large number of idioms which all suggest that laughter can be harmful: to laugh oneself to sickness, to laugh oneself to death; to laugh oneself a cripple.. When actors get fits of the giggles on stage they call it 'corpsing'. Could this expression stem from the same idea?
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#269113 - Sat Jun 10 2006 10:08 AM Re: Pathological laughter
mandelbrotset Enthusiast Registered: Sun Aug 11 2002 Posts: 230 Loc: Riverside Chicago Illinois USA	I have been plagued my entire life with the problem of inappropriate laughter. I laugh at the worst possible times, usually when something bad or tragic has happened. All through school I laughed my way to the principal's office, and later when my children got into trouble (rarely, thankfully) I continued to laugh in the principal's office. It makes me appear reckless, callous, shallow, insincere and uncaring but that's not how I feel inside. I never understood why I laugh like that but I have met other people with the same problem. It's gotten me into a good deal of trouble too but thankfully it's been easier to control as I get older. _________________________ "Patterns are set in one place and time, to be followed to the end of all years to come". (Andre Norton)
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#269114 - Mon Jun 12 2006 10:38 PM Re: Pathological laughter
quogequox Prolific Registered: Sat Sep 15 2001 Posts: 1050 Loc: Adelaide SA Australia	Some research has led me to conclude Kuru is the only disease relevant, but given the horse isn't a cannibal my partners decided against this name and it will be running (one day!) under the name Annoyed, I don't know why. _________________________ Never moon a werewolf.
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#269115 - Wed Jun 14 2006 01:27 AM Re: Pathological laughter
kvrgirl1 Participant Registered: Wed May 10 2006 Posts: 20 Loc: Washington State USA	They didn't explain why? How irritating! _________________________ If I had known I was going to live this long I would have taken better care of myself!
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