[Pathologic crying and emotional incontinence: therapeutic importance and diagnostic distinction]

Two uncontrollable episodic crying patients are studied. In the first case crying was due to a pathological crying syndrome and it responded to treatment with levodopa. The second case suffered from affective incontinence, within a depressive disorder associated a righ-hemisphere lesion; her uncontrollable crying responded to antidepressive treatment and improved simultaneously to the rest of depressive symptoms. Results showed that both processes have different therapeutical strategies and etiologies. The two patients CT scans support the righ-hemisphere role in emotion control.