Shame and Psychogenic non-epileptic seizures (PNES): research topic?

A few weeks ago, I was contacted by one of the leaders in the field of research of Psychogenic non-epileptic seizures (PNES); he proposed a project to several professionals in the field of PNES focusing on a topic that is often overlooked not only in PNES but in many other conditions and a variety of clinical settings. He stated that he had the sense that this emotional state may play an important role in the...

Poem written by someone living with PNES

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 A SPLASH YOU COME SO UNEXPECTED SOMETIMES YOU MAKE ME FEEL PROTECTED BUT I CAN GET...

The Sixth annual Northeast Regional Epilepsy Group conference on psychogenic non-epileptic seizures (PNES) will be held in Manhattan, NY

  On October 19, 2019, we will hold our now historic annual conference on psychogenic non-epileptic seizures (PNES). This will be the sixth year running that we offer this educational program on psychogenic non-epileptic seizures for patients, loved ones, and health professionals. As always, the event is free of charge.  As always, registrations are streaming in from across the US and some have even come in...

Recent article: Conversion disorder and the trouble with trauma

  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, quite persuasively that what might seem...

New article on dissociation and depression in children with PNES compared to children with epilepsy

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 diagnosed with psychogenic...