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In a 2005 article in Epilepsy and Behavior Journal Bewley et. al. reported that just over 90% of PNES sufferers scored positive for “Alexithymia.” What is alexithymia? It is a difficulty: 1) Identifying your own feelings 2) Distinguishing between emotional feelings and the bodily sensations that go along with emotion. 3) Describing feelings to other […]

According to an article by PNES specialist, Dr. Marcus Reuber (2008), 90% of PNES sufferers have a history of trauma. Not surprisingly, many present with symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). This means that they have intrusive symptoms (e.g. nightmares, memories), avoidance behavior (of reminders), and hyperarousal symptoms (e.g. startle response, hypervigilance for danger). Research

Yes, but… There are a myriad of factors that can affect the prognosis (whether the outcome will be good or bad). What are some of the factors we know support a good prognosis? 1) The sooner the right diagnosis is made. That avoids the condition becoming chronic and the suffering. But on average patients spend

Recently, I have been reading a lot about quality of life in PNES so that is what I am going to write about today. Two years ago, as part of a research project that our group presented as a poster at the American Epilepsy Society in which we compared self-reports of quality of life in

I had a discussion some months back with a colleague who insisted that the only types of trauma that can bring about something as serious as a psychogenic non epileptic disorder (conversion disorder) are physical and/or sexual abuse in childhood. I disagree.  Over the past few years, my patients with psychogenic seizures have been educating