psychiatry Archives - Non Epileptic Seizures

Why Are So Many Doctors Uncomfortable with the Psychogenic in PNES?

Leave a Comment / Uncategorized / Lorna Myers

Empathetic Reformers? The doctors leading the recent push to rename PNES—most visibly in the 2025 ILAE Task Force proposal for “functional/dissociative seizures (F/DS)” and the American Academy of Neurology’s 2025 guideline that settled on “functional seizures”—often frame the change as patient-centered and anti-stigma. They claim that the word “psychogenic” makes patients feel blamed, that it […]

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Recent article: Conversion disorder and the trouble with trauma

1 Comment / 2019, News / administrator

Kanaan and Craig recently published an article “Conversion disorders and the trouble with trauma” (see reference at the bottom of this page) in which they present the reader with a cogent overview of the current debate of whether conversion disorder should be conceptualized as “psychogenic” or instead “as a yet unexplained neurological disorder.” They argue,

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New article: Long-term outcome in a sample of underprivileged patients with psychogenic nonepileptic seizures (PNES) living in Argentina

Leave a Comment / 2019, News / administrator

This month, researchers from Argentina (Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas, de la Universidad de Buenos Aires y del ENyS) together with Dr. Lorna Myers (Director, Psychogenic Non-epileptic Seizures Program at the Northeast Regional Epilepsy Group) published an article in the Epilepsy and Behavior Journal: “Long-term outcome in a sample of underprivileged patients with psychogenic nonepileptic

New article: Long-term outcome in a sample of underprivileged patients with psychogenic nonepileptic seizures (PNES) living in Argentina Read More »

The good news is that you don’t have epilepsy, instead you have something called PNES

1 Comment / 2018, News / administrator

This blog’s title depicts a common way in which many doctors explain the diagnosis of Psychogenic non-epileptic seizures (PNES) to patients who are newly diagnosed with this disorder. I suspect this presentation is meant to suggest to the patient that having PNES is less terrible, dangerous, maybe potentially intractable, etc. than having epilepsy. However, in

The good news is that you don’t have epilepsy, instead you have something called PNES Read More »

A fantastic new book on psychogenic non-epileptic seizures “In our words” and why some health professionals should read it

3 Comments / 2018, News / administrator

This blog post has two parts to it. The first part will talk about a wonderful new book called “In Our Words” edited by Markus Reuber, Gregg Rawlings and Steven C. Schachter and which features testimonials of those living with PNES from around the world. It can be pre-ordered on Amazon with official release date

A fantastic new book on psychogenic non-epileptic seizures “In our words” and why some health professionals should read it Read More »

Why is scientific research in psychogenic non-epileptic seizures (PNES) so important and if you see that a study has opened up, why you should seriously consider applying to see if you qualify

4 Comments / News / administrator

You may not believe this if you are currently living with PNES and encountering a lot of the day to day challenges that come with it, but the panorama for PNES is actually improving (I know it can feel for some like too slow or not at all where you live, but remember, there is

Why is scientific research in psychogenic non-epileptic seizures (PNES) so important and if you see that a study has opened up, why you should seriously consider applying to see if you qualify Read More »

Recommendations for books having to do with psychogenic non-epileptic seizures as holiday gifts 2016

Book recommendation: Guises of Desire is the beautifully told story of one of the best known patients with a psychogenic and dissociative disorder

2 Comments / News / administrator

The time and place: Vienna, Austria in the 1800’s. The main character of the story is real: Bertha Pappenheim (AKA Anna O). In Guises of Desire, the author, Hilda Reilly, recounts Bertha’s intense years living with these psychogenic symptoms using a wonderful combination of solid research and imagination. Ms. Reilly descriptions of Bertha’s variety of

Book recommendation: Guises of Desire is the beautifully told story of one of the best known patients with a psychogenic and dissociative disorder Read More »

Why do Psychogenic non-epileptic seizures (PNES) become chronic for so many?

14 Comments / News / administrator

For the past year or so I have had a survey up on www.nonepilepticseizures.com homepage. It asks: How long have you been suffering non-epileptic episodes? 109 responses were received. Note that this is not a scientific survey that is based on those who wished to respond. Over 40% reported that PNES has been part of

Why do Psychogenic non-epileptic seizures (PNES) become chronic for so many? Read More »

Treating Psychogenic non-epileptic seizures: Only half of US psychiatrists accept payment through health insurance

1 Comment / News / administrator

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

Treating Psychogenic non-epileptic seizures: Only half of US psychiatrists accept payment through health insurance Read More »

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