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Non-Epileptic Seizures Have Root In Abusive Past

Patients with non-epileptic seizures often have a history of being in abusive or exploitative situations from which they feel they cannot escape. As such, psychotherapy may be helpful.

Since non-epileptic seizures may have a psychogenic origin, George P. Prigatano from the Division of Neurology, Barrow Neurological Institute, St. Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center, Phoenix, Arizona, United States, and colleagues explored the role of psychotherapy in this condition.

Fifteen patients diagnosed as having non-epileptic seizures underwent a six-month group psychotherapy program. Among these patients, 9 (60 percent) completed at least 58 percent of the treatment sessions.

Of the nine patients who completed a majority of the psychotherapy sessions, six reported a reduction in seizure frequency, and one reported an increase. Self-reports of seizures were highly correlated with paranoid ideation, and both dissociative phenomena and a history of sexual abuse was common among the patients. All of the patients reported being in adult situations that they found to be unacceptable or intolerable, and none of them could identify a solution to their situation.

When patients were told by their health care providers that their seizures were not true epileptic events, they experienced a resurgence of the feelings they had associated with not being believed when they reported being sexually abused as children.

According to the authors, the presence of non-epileptic seizures appears to be associated with continually being in abusive or exploitative relationships for which the patients could not perceive an escape or solution.
Epilepsy & Behavior Vol. 3, No. 4, August 1, 2002, pp. 343-349. "Psychological factors in the genesis and management of nonepileptic seizures: clinical observations"

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