A little while back, Alyssa Curtis was selected as a recipient of the Lorna Myers PNES Scholarship. It is wonderful to see how far she has come since then; she not only graduated from college with multiple degrees but has now also written a wonderful book to raise PNES-awareness and which is a beautiful ode […]
Saving Stripes: A book about nonepileptic seizures (PNES) and a zoo Read More »
What is a SAP? Seizure action plans are personalized, written documents created with your healthcare provider and include your diagnosis, a description of your typical episodes, and instructions for others witnessing the seizure on how to respond appropriately. They also typically include the name and number of your emergency contact person. Sample SAP:Seizure Action Plan
Seizure Action Plans (SAP) for psychogenic nonepileptic seizures (PNES) Read More »
New publication about PNES In 2015, Kate Berger published a remarkable and influential work, View from the Floor: Psychogenic Non-Epileptic Seizures: A Patient’s Perspective. Her candid, unfiltered account—marked by raw honesty, sharp wit, sarcasm, humor, and resilience—offered a powerful perspective that continues to resonate deeply with individuals living with PNES and those who care for
What is this?The Lorna Myers PNES Scholarship Fund is a dedicated financial aid program graciously administered by Epilepsy Alliance America and supported financially by Dr. Lorna Myers who donates all royalties from the sales of her book “Psychogenic nonepileptic seizures: A guide” to the scholarship. This scholarship supports students who reside in the US and
Functional seizures: Sanitized terminological shifts may seem progressive but can be harmful Late last year, an ILAE Task Force proposal (Hingray et al., 2025) was published, urging that the term “psychogenic nonepileptic seizures (PNES)” be replaced with the new and improved “functional/dissociative seizures (F/DS).” It is my understanding that some of the ILAE task force
Abandoning the term “psychogenic nonepileptic seizures” (PNES) in favor of “functional (dissociative) seizures” or simply “functional seizures” needs to be examined. We need to consider possible unintended negative consequences of this name change. My sense of urgency comes from a troubling scenario I foresee. Read on and feel free to challenge me on this or
Choosing “functional seizures” over PNES: what might happen Read More »
A recent ILAE Task Force proposal (Hingray et al., 2025) recommends replacing the term “psychogenic nonepileptic seizures (PNES)” with “functional/dissociative seizures (F/DS)” arguing that some experts feel that PNES lacks acceptability and that many patients reject it. Which Experts?It is unclear what experts the authors are referring to since the Task Force did not consult
The nonepileptic seizure Blog has invited author, Linda McClure, to tell us about her book “Mind Games.” It walks the reader through the experience of living with epilepsy and psychogenic nonepileptic seizures (PNES), also known as functional/dissociative seizures. This is a unique group of patients, often excluded from research and that can be difficult to
Functional Seizures and Epilepsy: My dual diagnosis Read More »
Hello everyone,My name is Matina Alexis, and I’m so grateful to be here. I live with Psychogenic Non-Epileptic Seizures (PNES), and I’m still in the process of healing. I continue to experience seizures, and through my diagnosis, I uncovered the deeper cause: repressed childhood trauma. I once believed I had already faced and understood my
Announcement: new poetry book by a young person living with PNES Read More »
More often than not, when I first meet my patients, it is evident that most of their lifetimes, self-care has been left by the wayside. My patients have been surviving, working hard, taking care of others, basically treading water for years. And this has shortchanged them in the process. As could be expected, at some
