The question I hear from almost all my patients who have received the diagnosis of psychogenic seizures the first few times we meet is: “How can I have a stress condition if I am not feeling at all stressed? The answer is: There is a difference between feeling stressed and being under stress. And developing […]
For the past year and a half I have been writing a book on psychogenic seizures for those living with PNES as well as their caregivers and the professionals who work with them. As we all know, psychogenic seizures look very much like epileptic seizures, but are not triggered by electrical anomalies in the brain
An article came out earlier this week in USA Today that underscored a very serious problem that persons with psychogenic non epileptic seizures (and other mental health conditions) face. Only half of psychiatrists accept insurance which means that if you need treatment you need to be prepared to pay large out-of-pocket fees. This is not
Katie is 22 years old and will graduate from college this spring. She has also had psychogenic non-epileptic seizures for 4 years. She contacted me because she wants to be a voice and advocate for PNES, to help others realize they are not alone and that there is hope, and to make positive strides for
Katie shares her experience of living with psychogenic seizures for 4 years Read More »
In July 2013, we published an article in the Journal Epilepsy and Behavior looking at: Psychological trauma in patients with psychogenic nonepileptic seizures: Trauma characteristics and those who develop PTSD. The full article can be found here: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1525505013001819). We found that 45 out of 61 (73.8%) patients reported experiencing at least one traumatic event in
I have psychogenic non-epileptic seizures (PNES) but was never traumatized: Is this you? Read More »
In June and July of this year I blogged on how poor standard of care is in the US for many patients diagnosed with psychogenic non-epileptic seizures. However, this month I am happy to write about a positive experience I had at Overlook Hospital of Summit, New Jersey. In the summer, I blogged about deficient
Creating proper treatment programs for psychogenic non-epileptic seizures in the US Read More »
What unites patients with PNES into a single category? The fact that they have abnormal behaviors and changes in consciousness that resemble an epileptic seizure, but that are in fact non-epileptic as per EEG? However, right about there is where the similarity ends. To bunch all of PNES patients into one bag and hope to
Dr. Selim Benbadis published an excellent editorial article in the Neuropsychiatry Journal this year in which he called out both the American Psychological and American Psychiatric Association for the absence of information about Psychogenic non-epileptic seizures (conversion disorders) they have on their sites. He pointed out that both associations have a plethora of mental health
Up to 90% of patients with psychogenic non-epileptic seizures (PNES) report histories of significant trauma (often childhood sexual and physical abuse). If we compare with control groups and the general US population, we find that in fact, patients with psychogenic non epileptic seizures have suffered more abuse than these other groups. As for post-traumatic stress
In order for psychotherapy to have any chance of working, the psychologist needs to have targets to work on and goals for change. The most obvious goal for change in PNES is for the behavioral episodes (i.e. non-epileptic seizures) to stop. In reality, there are a number of other important goals in treating PNES but
