Psychogenic non epileptic seizures (PNES) can disrupt life in a multitude of ways

Some think that because psychogenic non epileptic seizures are “psychological” that they somehow have less of an impact on life. But for many who have PNES, it can feel like a prison (see picture of handcuffs). PNES has some very real emotional and physical effects and the potential to affect the finances and independence of the patient in a multitude of ways. The unexpected nature of the psychogenic events can...

Psychogenic non epileptic seizures flare up even when good things happen: does that make any sense?

It does actually. The idea for today’s blog post came to me after one of my patients had several episodes right after getting some very good news. She was confused as was her family about why this happened. This led to our talking about different kinds of stress and we were able to make sense of it. So, I thought it would be useful to share with all of you as well. To understand it we need to talk about...