Emotional lability, pseudobulbar affect, emotionalism, or pathological crying and laughing all describe episodes of involuntary and uncontrollable crying and/or laughing, outside of socially appropriate circumstances and when it is incongruent with the patient’s emotional state1,2
Several different conditions can cause emotional lability, including stroke2
The pathology of stroke can affect many areas of the brain, damage to an area involved in emotional regulation may lead to dysfunction1,2