PNES Poem by Nita Dholakia To wake up in the morning is what I wish Waking up in the afternoon is my truth Morning or afternoon, getting up is my win Relaxed and peaceful sleep is now my dream Jolts and jerks with silent grunting Screaming from annoying pain My new routine is not plain …
Writing the “Psychogenic Non-Epileptic Seizures Pocketbook” came about after many years of treating patients with PNES and training other clinicians in treating them. It has been humbling and rewarding to work with families and their children and watch them get better and grow into their adulthood. But this isn’t how my career initially started. In …
The Psychogenic non-epileptic Seizures Pocketbook-Why Julia Doss wrote it Read More »
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 »
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 …
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 …
Let’s first answer: What is alexithymia? Basically, it means, not having words for emotions (a=not having, lexi=word, thymia=emotion) or in other words, having a hard time identifying and describing feelings. In psychogenic non-epileptic seizures (PNES), it is quite common to have some degree of alexithymia. By the way, alexithymia can also occur in individuals who …
You have been told you have alexithymia: Now, what? (Post for patients) Read More »
In March, our summer intern, Nadine Boesten, together with her supervisors Ben Wijnen and Lorna Myers published an article with the following title: “Quality of life and psychological dysfunction in traumatized and nontraumatized patients with psychogenic nonepileptic seizures (PNES).” This study aimed to examine whether there are distinct subgroups within those who have psychogenic non-epileptic …
