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 […]
Recently, Goldstein et al published their results from a randomized CBT treatment versus “treatment as usual” (TAU) study in which treatment outcome in patients who had a history of dissociative seizures was compared (Goldstein et al., 2020). The study is the largest and most well-designed study to date. It included an initial 3-month observation period
Currently, emergency rooms, hospitals in general and medical staff are facing a serious crisis due to the Coronavirus that emerged just months ago but which quickly became a pandemic. If possible, Emergency Rooms (ERs) should be avoided unless it is absolutely necessary because resources are stretched thin, the risk for exposure to this virus or
This poem was written by a young adult living with the effects of Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and psychogenic non-epileptic seizures (PNES). Through this poem she communicates to others what her experience is like. Perhaps these words may resonate with you too. ITS BLINKING I SEE A BIG FLASH IM MY HEAD YOU FALL WITH
In June, our team (Myers, Trobliger, Bortnik, Zeng, Segal and Lancman) published: “Dissociation and other clinical phenomena in youth with psychogenic non-epileptic seizures (PNES) compared to youth with epilepsy” in the peer-reviewed journal Seizure: European Journal of Epilepsy. The article had some very interesting findings which I will discuss below. This paper compared 15 youth
Warning: PNES used to be called hysteria in the 19th Century and since this is a historical book, that is the term you will find in it. The Nature/Nurture explanation of human behavior are like two sides of a coin and over the last few centuries, the coin keeps getting tossed every few decades. The
A book on psychogenic non-epileptic seizures (PNES) in the 19th Century Read More »
Today I want to write about an experience I had a few weeks ago. I was speaking with some of my colleagues at a conference about working with patients who are diagnosed with PNES. Several of them explained that they had been working with patients who had been having seizures (some of them very frequent
I’m Clea, the director, producer and editor of dis-sociated, the first feature-length documentary about Dissociative Seizures which is now available to watch on YouTube: I was inspired to create this documentary after my friend developed mysterious absence-like seizures, which doctors were unable to explain or prevent. Once my friend finally received a diagnosis, her life
“‘dis-sociated’ – The first ever feature documentary on PNES Read More »
In 2017, we set about trying to answer a question that had been on my mind for a few years. The query was whether women and men with PNES were the same in all respects or different, and if they were different, in what ways. The reason answering this question is important is because better
Are psychogenic non-epileptic seizures (PNES) the same in men and women? Read More »
Five years ago, at the Northeast Regional Epilepsy Group, we took a leap into the unknown and organized our first ever PNES conference for patient and caregivers. Just days before the conference was to take place, we were understandably nervous. We wondered if anyone would even show up, if there was any interest in the
