IS LAUGHTER A SIGN OF INSANITY?

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XX, Issue V, 29 January 1898, Page 128

IS LAUGHTER A SIGN OF INSANITY?

'lt is a very curious fact,’ said a celebrated asylum doctor recently, ■that, taken as a- general rule, all lunatics laugh about twice as much as sane people. 'One of my worst patients at the present moment exhibited the first signs of insanity by laughing continuously. and without stopping, for over a week.

It was just after a severe illness, mental depression, and his friends which had been accompanied by much were so delighted with the apparent improvement in his spirits that- they had no idea of the real state of affairs until a doctor was called in and pronounced the man completely mad. Laughter after a surgical operation is a symptom always greatly dreaded bv doctors and nurses.

'That queer impulse to laugh which some people experience in the first moment of a sudden calamity is in reality one of the sharpest warnings of insanity that anyone could receive.

•Some people fall into a habit of laughing at their own thoughts when alone: this should be always strictly checked, as it is an unhealthy sign, and may lead to brain trouble later on.'