Diagnosed with Pseudobulbar Affect, United States Army veteran Christine Jones, 46, of Hometown, is currently taking part in a documentary to help inform the nation about it.
On Friday, June 13, 2003, Sergeant First Class Jones, was on her way back from deploying troops to Afghanistan from Indiantown Gap when she was involved in a motor vehicle accident that flipped her vehicle 8 times. She was airlifted to Hershey where she was treated for a broken neck, damage to her brain and other injuries. In addition, Jones required a blood transfusion after losing 5 pints of blood and insertion of plates. “I didn’t remember anything,” said Jones, after awakening a week later from her coma.
At the time, doctors told her she wouldn’t be able to walk again due to the severity of her neck injury. Her recovery included a year and a half of care at Walter Reed military hospital in Maryland. “It was definitely a long process,” said Jones.
Jones said, it took years of physical and emotional therapy for her to regain her ability to walk, as well as to regain other facets of her life. Her injuries eventually resulted in a medical discharge from the Amy, after serving 20 years.
11 years later, Jones still combats neurological affects of the crash. “Everything goes numb. I get vertigo, suffer from memory loss and fall for no reason,” said Jones.
In addition to these problems, Jones states she has uncontrollable crying and laughter, known as Pseudobulbar Affect (PBA). “You almost think you are going crazy,” said Jones. “I was relieved to find a title to what my issues were. I never heard of it prior.”
When out in public, Jones finds herself having to excuse herself to strangers that don’t understand her condition. At times, telling strangers, “Look at my scar,” as she points to her slightly hidden scar on her forehead.
Pseudobulbar affect, aka “emotional changes”, “labile affect”, or “emotional incontinence”, refers to a neurologic disorder characterized by involuntary crying or uncontrollable episodes of crying and/or laughing, or other emotional displays. PBA occurs secondary to neurologic disease or brain injury. Patients may find themselves crying uncontrollably at something that is only moderately sad, being unable to stop themselves for several minutes. Episodes may also be mood-incongruent: a patient might laugh uncontrollably when angry or frustrated, for example.

“Since, I am happy a lot, my husband gets away with anything,” said Jones jokingly.
In addition to Christine’s medical problems, Donald, her husband of 21 years, suffered a stroke a year and a half ago that resulted in damage to parts of his brain. “Together, we are one huge brain,” said Christine. Both met in the Army in Washington state. Donald is from Jersey, while Christine is from California. Due to Donald’s stroke, he will be retiring in February.
Both have three kids. They are Tiffani, 25, who enlisted in the Army in 2000; Andrew, 20, who enlisted in the Army infantry in 2013 and will be deploying this year to Afghanistan; and Anthony, 14. In addition, Christine’s father Stanley Kossoff served in the US Air Force.
“If it wasn’t for my family, I wouldn’t have made it through it,” added Christine. “They are my support group.”

During a past TamaquaArea.com interview with Christine, she said to “Follow the three R’s: Respect for self, Respect for others and Responsibility for all your actions. We the people are all equal. No one is exempt – and humor is a must.”

In addition to the documentary about her battle with Pseudobulbar Affect, Christine has done an interview on WYOU/WBRE TV on January 12, 2015, as well as joined in on an interview with former NFL player Barry Sanders via Huffington Post Live on January 22, 2015 (TacklePBA.org).
Christine said she might be doing another interview with a doctor and news crew in late January.
Although there is no current release date for the documentary, Elizabeth Olsen, Account Manager with W20 Group, said the documentary release date is “to be determined.” Currently, the working title is “The PBA Project”. The website for it can be found at www.pbafilm.com.
“Understanding is just as important as curing,” said Christine.

Below are links to related information about the documentary courtesy of W20 Group.

Multimedia press release announcing documentary:
– http://www.multivu.com/players/English/7266955-avanir-pharmaceuticals-pseudobulbar-affect-pba-documentary.
Documentary Website:
– http://www.pbafilm.com.
Christine’s Short Bio:
– http://www.pbafilm.com/cast_crew/meet-Christine

WYOU/WBRE TV Interview (1-12-2015):
http://www.pahomepage.com/story-pa-live/d/story/palive-tamaqua-documentary/14032/GQKCuyHsZ0m2_QTNO4X6FQ#.VMcLdwb4T1Y.

Huffington Post Live shared interviewed with past NFL player Barry Sanders (1-22-2015):
http://live.huffingtonpost.com/r/segment/barry-sanders-nfl-superbowl-interview/54b559f42b8c2ae355000094.

Below are other TamaquaArea.com photos from the crew’s visit with Christine Jones during the 2014 Tamaqua Veteran’s Day Parade: