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 […]
Why do patients with psychogenic non epileptic seizures have such poor quality of life? Read More »
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
So, for those who dismiss PNES as something that is “just psychological,” don’t be so hasty. The fact that it is psychological does not mean it does not have some very real consequences.
If we spend our energy avoiding, we miss so many moments in our life, we end up being mindless rather than mindful. Mindfulness and psychotherapy of psychogenic non epileptic seizures aim to shift the balance the other way.
Mindfulness and psychogenic non epileptic seizures Read More »
Last week, I was invited to the Third International Neuropsychology conference in Guadalajara on Rehabilitation and Epilepsy. It gave me a wonderful opportunity to talk about a little known condition that is actually quite common in epilepsy centers: psychogenic non epileptic seizures. The conference had drawn 500 attendees (psychology students, neuropsychologists and neurologists from all
Talking about psychogenic non epileptic seizures in Guadalajara, Mexico Read More »
These last two weeks have been stressful for anyone who lives in the Northeast (USA). Understandably, the news has been the main topic for all my patients with psychogenic seizures. And I admit it, even this psychologist was rattled. Two earthquakes 5 days apart (note that our last earthquake was around 100 years ago), a
Psychogenic non epileptic seizures: When life throws you a hurricane Read More »
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
The topic for this month’s post came to me after finding a thread of comments made by emergency medical professionals (EMPs) about psychogenic non epileptic seizures (http://www.emtlife.com/showthread.php?p=299085). It was saddening to read how EMPs talked about how they are often berated by hospital staff for bringing in patients with non epileptic seizures. I hope reading
The stigma of psychogenic non epileptic seizures (PNES) is still with us Read More »
Can someone tell if the difference between a PNES spell and an epileptic seizure (ES) just by looking at the spell itself? Answer: NO What is Video EEG Telemetry and how is it useful to make a PNES diagnosis? Newer technology allows doctors to monitor electrical activity in the patient’s brain during epileptic events. In
How many people with PNES have a history of trauma? An interesting article was published in the Journal Epilepsy and Behavior ( 2004) by Fiszman et. al. It reviewed 17 PNES studies and found that traumatic events and PTSD in persons with PNES were very common. Depending on the study: 44-100% of PNES patients had
