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 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
Moral injury in female US combat veterans diagnosed with PNES Read More »
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
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
Please join me in celebrating the 2021 winners of the Lorna Myers PNES scholarship! Read More »
For six years straight, the Northeast Regional Epilepsy Group (NEREG), hosted an annual PNES conference for patients, caregivers, and in the later years, for health professionals too. Our last conference was held on 2019 and then, as we all know, the world ground to a halt due to the 2020 pandemic. Although we did not
There is so much that we need to do to improve the lives of those living with PNES. We definitely need to increase treatment options and to ensure a growing number of clinicians are available to treat this health condition. To achieve this, research on treatment outcome is a necessity, and as such, funding is
Psychoeducation: refers to some form of intervention (lecture, support group meeting or published materials) that aims to educate the audience members/readers about a specific health condition, provides coping suggestions and informs about treatment options. Usually, psychoeducation is provided by health professionals but not necessarily; patients who have educated themselves about their health issues can prove
If we can say anything for sure about COVID-19 is that there is still a lot that we do not know. Making matters worse, at times experts have communicated confusing and contradictory information to the public. One of the clearest examples of these confounding messages can be found in the advice provided regarding mask wearing.
As someone who has PNES, what should I know about the COVID-19 vaccines? Read More »
This feature article was just published by the International League Against Epilepsy (ILAE) and summarizes meetings that took place last year. https://www.newswise.com/articles/what-should-we-call-psychogenic-non-epileptic-seizures Note: I will continue to call PNES by this name below since we do not have a better term yet. Why is this important what we call this disorder, you might ask?
It is important for mental health professionals to be cognizant of this because these patients exist and are encountered in psychotherapists’ offices with certain regularity. For decades if not centuries (if we look back to Pierre Janet and Sigmund Freud) it has been understood that psychological trauma is an important risk factor in the development
