Tearfulness (emotionalism) - Question 1
Q: Sometimes my husband just bursts into tears without warning and at the slightest provocation. What am I doing wrong?
A: You are doing nothing wrong. Stroke can cause what is called emotional lability or emotionalism. People affected by this will cry or, less commonly, laugh for little or no reason. Sometimes they will switch rapidly from one to the other. The emotions are sometimes very close to the surface after a stroke and are no longer under the same degree of voluntary control that they used to be. You will probably find that your husband is more likely to start crying when he hears about things related to him, his family or home than by subjects not so closely related to his own life. This problem will be more severe if there is also an element of depression, but can certainly exist even if he is not depressed. It is a distressing symptom both for him and for you. Usually it settles as the stroke recovers. Treatment with fluoxetine (Prozac) can help, the benefits being evident within a few days - which is much quicker than when the drug is being used to treat depression. Try not to be embarrassed by the crying and avoid the temptation to keep all communication with him at such a bland level that the symptom is avoided. In the long run, that might only delay his ability to recover control over his emotions.
