If you’re anything like me, you loved the movie Joker and Joaquin Phoenix’s performance as Arthur Fleck who evolves into the Joker. But there’s a question that almost everyone will ask about the film - Is that a real condition?
They will be of course referring to the sustained, almost torturous laughter which grips Fleck no matter how he is truly feeling. Well, this is actually a real condition. And the symptoms Joaquin displays…well that’s a brilliant portrayal of how sufferers experience the disorder known as pseudobulbar affect or PBA.
Pseudobulbar affect
The overall feature of the disorder is uncontrollable laughter or crying and sometimes even swinging between the two. Notice I didn’t say swings of mood here, it’s not connected to the underlying emotional state and thus doesn’t necessarily match external situations. One might wonder how the symptom of crying isn’t mistaken for mental illness and depression. PBA episodes are fairly short and thus don’t mirror the persistence of depression.
The Mayoclinic lists a number of causes which include:
Stroke
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS)
Multiple sclerosis (MS)
Traumatic brain injury
Alzheimer's disease
Parkinson's disease
One might wonder what the difficulties of this disorder might be, and if you have seen Joker, then you’ll remember the social stigma associated with these episodes. Exhibiting symptoms as dramatic as these, can cause a wide variety of issues including social isolation and extreme embarrassment.
Prevalence:
In the US, PBA is thought to affect up to about 2 million people but it could be more due to the symptoms being less or more pronounced.
Treatment:
Treatment may include antidepressants such as SSRIs, or quinidine sulfate. The treatments are not cures, and instead focus on reducing the severity of each attack.
Reference:
‘Pseudobulbar affect - Diagnosis and treatment’ - Mayo Clinic Website title: Mayoclinic.org URL: https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/pseudobulbar-affect/diagnosis-treatment/drc-20353741
So, Psuedobulbar affect is not mental illness. I always thought joker had depression. How psychologists diagnosed this condition?
I looked it up, it is a neurological condition. Oh, it's mind blowing.
So there is no known cure for the Pseudobulbar affect?
The joker is a wonderful movie.