dissociation

Staying healthy as a person living with PNES while staying cooped up during the age of COVID-19

We have all been asked to practice something called “social distancing” which means keeping at least 6 feet from others and avoiding (as of today) being in a group of 10 people. Schools, churches, public buildings, restaurants, gyms, etc. have all been closed for this purpose and now, many of us are stuck at home …

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New article on dissociation and depression in children with PNES compared to children with epilepsy

In June, our team (Myers, Trobliger, Bortnik, Zeng, Segal and Lancman) published: “Dissociation and other clinical phenomena in youth with psychogenic non-epileptic seizures (PNES) compared to youth with epilepsy” in the peer-reviewed journal Seizure: European Journal of Epilepsy. The article had some very interesting findings which I will discuss below. This paper compared 15 youth …

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A book on psychogenic non-epileptic seizures (PNES) in the 19th Century

Warning: PNES used to be called hysteria in the 19th Century and since this is a historical book, that is the term you will find in it. The Nature/Nurture explanation of human behavior are like two sides of a coin and over the last few centuries, the coin keeps getting tossed every few decades. The …

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What term do YOU prefer to use when naming your health condition (AKA psychogenic non-epileptic seizures) or talking about your symptoms with others?

Late last year, we posted a survey on the homepage of www.nonepilepticseizures.com that addresses the age-old question: what should we call these particular non-epileptic episodes?  The difference in this blog post is that we will hear from non-professional survey voters and not just the researchers. If you have followed this blog, you might recall that …

What term do YOU prefer to use when naming your health condition (AKA psychogenic non-epileptic seizures) or talking about your symptoms with others? Read More »

“‘dis-sociated’ – The first ever feature documentary on PNES

I’m Clea, the director, producer and editor of dis-sociated, the first feature-length documentary about Dissociative Seizures which is now available to watch on YouTube: I was inspired to create this documentary after my friend developed mysterious absence-like seizures, which doctors were unable to explain or prevent. Once my friend finally received a diagnosis, her life …

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New article compares patients with psychogenic non-epileptic seizures (PNES) to patients with intractable partial epilepsy on trauma, somatization and dissociation

This month, several colleagues at the Northeast Regional Epilepsy Group published a new article: “Psychological trauma, somatization, dissociation, and psychiatric comorbidities in patients with psychogenic nonepileptic seizures compared with those in patients with intractable partial epilepsy.” The initial aim of the project was to better understand psychological trauma in PNES and in persons with epilepsy (PWEs) and …

New article compares patients with psychogenic non-epileptic seizures (PNES) to patients with intractable partial epilepsy on trauma, somatization and dissociation Read More »

Are psychogenic non-epileptic seizures (PNES) the same in men and women?

In 2017, we set about trying to answer a question that had been on my mind for a few years. The query was whether women and men with PNES were the same in all respects or different, and if they were different, in what ways. The reason answering this question is important is because better …

Are psychogenic non-epileptic seizures (PNES) the same in men and women? Read More »

Drumroll…. Fifth Annual Conference on Psychogenic non-epileptic seizures (PNES) will be taking place this October!

Five years ago, at the Northeast Regional Epilepsy Group, we took a leap into the unknown and organized our first ever PNES conference for patient and caregivers. Just days before the conference was to take place, we were understandably nervous.  We wondered if anyone would even show up, if there was any interest in the …

Drumroll…. Fifth Annual Conference on Psychogenic non-epileptic seizures (PNES) will be taking place this October! Read More »

Book recommendation: Trauma and Recovery-The aftermath of violence from domestic abuse to political terror by Judith Herman, M.D.

In 1992, Dr. Herman published this groundbreaking book that, over the years, has helped educate countless clinicians who treat traumatized individuals. I believe I came upon this first edition in 1995.  The most updated version came out recently in 2015.  In my opinion, this book provides one of the clearest and insightful explanations of the …

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Dis-sociated: A documentary about psychogenic non-epileptic seizures

Dis-sociated- is a documentary by Clea Martin Vargas Dis-sociated will be a feature length documentary about Dissociative Seizures, also known as Non-epileptic Attack Disorder (NEAD) or Psychogenic Non-Epileptic Seizures (PNES). Clea decided to make this documentary after witnessing first-hand the tremendous difficulties her friend faced with her diagnosis of PNES (or dissociative seizures), or what …

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