Pseudobulbar Affect And Crying At Llamas

It’s no secret that I am an animal lover. Sometimes I feel like furry friends are way more awesomer than people. I mean, take my dog Crash for example. He accepts me for who I am. He is always happy. I don’t ever come home to him in a grouchy mood because I didn’t rub his tummy long enough. In fact, he waits, staring out the window, just waiting to see my car pull up. Then he is so excited to greet me at the door. He acts like I have been gone all summer on a European vacation, when in actuality I left an hour ago to pick up some groceries. Whether I am sad, happy, angry, or just plain goofy… he adores unconditionally. Not to mention… he’s super cute!

My Wolfpack knows me

My PD Wolfpack knows if they want to get me to smile, all they have to do is send me funny or sweet videos of animals. I know. I’m such a sucker. But come on… if you tell me that the following photos don’t put you into a Cuteatonic State, you must be a zombie.

The video that made me giggle...then cry

Ok… now snap out of it! This blog isn’t over yet. So last week I was sent a hilarious video of Llamas spitting on people…. Don’t judge me… I found it so funny, I almost peed my pants. I knew I needed to share this gem of a video with my friend. As I cued up the clip for our viewing pleasure, I begin to smile with anticipation of the pending laughs. I widen the screen view on my iPhone and leaned in when the first Llama came into the landscape.

By the third loogie hocked onto an unsuspecting person, I am in full giggle mode. I can barely control my laughing. As my face starts to hurt from smiling so long, I feel a weird sensation… warm tears are streaming down my face. It made me laugh more because I couldn’t stop. I thought to myself, “ Ok, this isn’t THAT funny. Pull it in Perky… You look like a dork”. I wipe my eyes and realize that I wasn’t just laughing at the silly animals acting like buttheads, I was actually crying. But I wasn’t sad. So what the heck?

Why did this happen?

Well, I unknowingly received a gift from my secret admirer, Parkinson’s disease. It’s called “Pseudobulbar Affect” (PBA) and it’s when someone has inappropriate, uncontrollable crying or laughing… just like my tearful, but confusing reaction while laughing at Llamas spitting in people’s faces. PBA is not a disease in itself, but is, in fact, a result of brain changes in various neurological disorders, such as our Frenemy Parkinson’s disease.

Hooray!!... (Heavy sarcastic tone)... another symptom of PD. Guess this must be why I laugh when people get hurt. Actually, that’s always pretty funny. Well at least I don’t cry at funerals… yet. Bet you would feel better if you looked up videos of Llamas being jerks… YouTube has a boat load of tearful clips... Enjoy.