Early in September, I had the pleasure of attending a very exciting conference in Edinburgh, Scotland. The conference was historic and groundbreaking in many ways, not least of which was that the last International FND had been held a total of SEVEN years before! First question to tackle before we move forward is: What are […]
Functional Neurological Disorders (FND) Conference in Scotland, 2017 Read More »
My position has always been that the gift of knowledge is maybe one of the most wonderful gifts we can give to others. That’s why I so value the work teachers do. I am still in awe of how children enter school as illiterates and in just a few years are taught how to make
I’d like to use this month’s blog post to highlight a superb article that was published this year on psychogenic non-epileptic seizures in Clinical Psychology Review (issue 47). In my opinion, this publication is what all professionals who work with PNES should be aspiring to contribute to the field. In past blog posts I have
Many health professionals still hold misconceptions regarding PNES itself. Many still believe that the psychogenic episodes are somehow voluntary in nature. Others are uncertain about prognosis and when it comes to treatment many tend to offer a knee-jerk suggestion of CBT (cognitive behavior therapy) without taking into account that a substantial number of mental health
This year’s conference promises to be superb. We are honored to have as our invited speaker, pediatric neuropsychiatrist, Dr. Rochelle Caplan of UCLA (http://people.healthsciences.ucla.edu/institution/personnel?personnel_id=8660) and we will have several other wonderful speakers talking about both PNES diagnosis and treatment in adults and children. We are also working to set up talks by a few new
From time to time, I invite persons who have experience with PNES and who have useful information to share with others, to post on this blog. Author of the wonderful book “View From the Floor: Non-epileptic seizures: A patient’s perspective”, Kate Berger, is sharing her knowledge and essential tips on how to navigate the school
Patients diagnosed with PNES sometimes share with me that they have encountered people who seem to think that they should be able to stop the seizures by somehow willing them away. Those who hold this erroneous belief are not only from the general public but also health professionals (e.g. emergency medical personnel, doctors and nurses
Why can’t you just stop having these Psychogenic non-epileptic seizures (PNESs)? Read More »
This blog post was written by a young woman who was diagnosed with psychogenic seizures (PNES) seven years ago. She has coursed a hard yet enriching road that eventually helped her overcome her PNES. Not only has she overcome the condition, she is now helping others to do the same. we thank her for taking
Psychogenic non-epileptic seizures: GC recommends that you listen to yourself Read More »
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
