Book review: On the floor again: A raw look at life with nonepileptic seizures by Mia Montgomery

If you have been diagnosed with Psychogenic non-epileptic seizures (PNES) and are feeling alone on this journey, I advise you to pick up a copy of “On the floor again” by young author, Mia Montgomery. This is a highly entertaining book in which you will find yourself turning page after page, wanting to know what will happen to Mia in the end: Will that enchanted childhood become somehow marred by an unhappy...

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...

Frozen in time: trauma and psychogenic non-epileptic seizures (PNES)

This poem was shared by someone who has lived with PNES. Her first seizure occurred with no warning while she was at work.  After an initial diagnosis of epilepsy, rounds of medicine, and realizing that medication was not stopping the seizures, she was diagnosed with PNES.  A traumatic event that occurred to her decades before was the trigger for her PNES; while she thought that she had dealt with that event and...

New article compares patients with psychogenic non-epileptic seizures (PNES) to patients with intractable partial epilepsy on trauma, somatization and dissociation

This month, several colleagues at the Northeast Regional Epilepsy Group published a new article: “Psychological trauma, somatization, dissociation, and psychiatric comorbidities in patients with psychogenic nonepileptic seizures compared with those in patients with intractable partial epilepsy.” The initial aim of the project was to better understand psychological trauma in PNES and in persons with epilepsy...

Book recommendation: Trauma and Recovery-The aftermath of violence from domestic abuse to political terror by Judith Herman, M.D.

In 1992, Dr. Herman published this groundbreaking book that, over the years, has helped educate countless clinicians who treat traumatized individuals. I believe I came upon this first edition in 1995.  The most updated version came out recently in 2015.  In my opinion, this book provides one of the clearest and insightful explanations of the many aspects of psychological trauma and is a must for future...