In a few weeks, a new book on PNES is going to be published and will be called: The Psychogenic Non-Epileptic Seizures (also known as dissociative seizures) Pocketbook. The word “pocketbook” is in its title because it is meant to be just that: a book that a clinician might carry in her/his pocket for quick reference when working with a person who has PNES. And it has two names for the diagnosis: psychogenic Non-Epileptic Seizures and dissociative seizures because clinicians and researchers can’t make up their mind what to call these seizures. So imagine, if we can’t even agree on the name, there is definitely a need for a little pocketbook to explain these seizures as clearly and plainly as possible!
The idea for this publication came to be because the two co-authors, Dr. Julia Doss and Dr. Lorna Myers (me) received weekly emails from therapists, school nurses, case workers and also family members from all over the USA. In these emails, the writers were seeking information on a multitude of practical issues related to living with these seizures as well questions about treatment and seizure-management. Sometimes families were looking for resources for a therapist who had agreed to work with the patient but admitted they had never heard of this diagnosis.
And at some point, we realized that we were often writing the same responses over and over and we had a eureka moment. We thought to ourselves, maybe it would be better to put these recommendations down in one little book that everyone can easily access and no one will have to write to us and wait for us to get around to responding.
And that is how The Psychogenic Non-Epileptic Seizures (also known as dissociative seizures) Pocketbook was born! Well, in all honesty, it took us about a year really to complete it, but at least that’s were the first seed sprouted.
And over this last year, we have met regularly, refining our writing and sending chapters back and forth to each other. And more recently, we asked and were honored that Drs. Rochelle Caplan (pediatric PNES specialist), Dr. Selim Benbadis (epileptologist and PNES specialist) and Dr. Markus Reuber (epileptologist and PNES specialist) agreed to read and comment on the pocketbook (those comments will be in the book or on the back cover).
Here is a first view of the Pocketbook chapters:
Chapter one: A brief introduction to psychogenic non-epileptic seizures (PNES)
Chapter two: Diagnosing PNES/DS
Chapter three: Treating adults diagnosed with PNES/DS
Chapter four: Treating children and teens with PNES/DS
Chapter five: Managing PNES/DS in a professional setting (i.e., office)
Chapter six: Living with PNES/DS: Employment
Chapter seven: Living with PNES/DS as a student
Chapter eight: Other practical issues and recommendations for living with PNES/DS including parenting, dating, driving, safety in the home and when traveling, and tips for parents of a child who has PNES/DS
Looking forward to reading your reviews when it comes out.
Hi There please can you let me know when PNES Pocket Book will be available and how one can get it South Africa?
Many thanks
Lesley
Hello Lesley, The expected publication date for the PNES Pocket Book is in June (slight delay from what was initially announced). It will be available on all of Amazon’s marketplaces.