Students living with psychogenic non-epileptic seizures (PNES)-a new study

For almost 20 years, I have been a school nurse. During one of my first years as a school nurse, I met a student with what health care providers were then calling pseudoseizures. While many school personnel were very supportive of this student, there were just as many who were NOT. I heard comments about this student faking seizures. I saw the student miss many days of school. And I watched the student fall farther...

Service animals for people living with psychogenic non-epileptic seizures (PNES): some thoughts

I get asked about service dogs for PNES quite a bit and over the last few years, I have had the opportunity to observe my patients’ service dogs and emotional support animals in action. The ones who are really well-trained have left me very impressed at how useful they are in ensuring safety and also for some patients, their seizures have been significantly reduced after the dog was brought on board. So, here are...

Moral injury in female US combat veterans diagnosed with PNES

For this month’s blog post, we have invited a young researcher to share her call for research subjects on this site.  This research has been approved by an institutional review board and is completely voluntary. If you are interested in reading more about it or in participating if you fit the inclusion criteria, click on the link below.    Also, if you are not sure what the researcher means by...

Current research projects for persons diagnosed with psychogenic non-epileptic seizures (PNES), also known as dissociative or functional seizures

One of the ways in which we can help improve the lives of those living with PNES or dissociative seizures is through scientific research.  Fortunately, in the last couple of decades, there has been a proliferation of research studies that have focused on risk, prognostic and outcome factors, diagnostic tools, treatment modalities, among other topics.  Below you can read about two current projects that may...

Please join me in celebrating the 2021 winners of the Lorna Myers PNES scholarship!

This year, the Epilepsy Alliance of America awarded eight fantastic women scholarships to assist them in pursuing their education. The main criteria for this award is that the applicant must have a diagnosis of psychogenic non-epileptic seizures (PNES) and can show that he/she is planning on using these funds to further his/her education. Why was this scholarship set up? Several years back, I decided to take all...