Doctors rarely witness the actual event, so they are drawn toward the diagnosis of epilepsy. Family members report episodes in which the patient stiffens and jerks. The seizures most often imitate complex partial or tonic-clonic (grand mal) seizures. What Does A Psychogenic Seizure Look Like? They are three times more common in females. They are most often seen in adolescents and young adults, but they also can occur in children and the elderly. Psychogenic nonepileptic seizures have been more widely recognized during the past several decades. These people need different treatment for each disorder. About 1 in 6 of these patients either also has epileptic seizures or has had them, however. About 20% of the patients referred to comprehensive epilepsy centers for study with video-EEG are found to have nonepileptic seizures. Psychogenic nonepileptic seizures are common. Usually the person is not aware that the spells are not "epileptic." The term "pseudoseizures" has also been used (mostly in the past) to refer to these events. Doctors consider most of them psychological in nature, but not purposely produced. Psychogenic seizures are caused by subconscious mental activity, not abnormal electrical activity in the brain. In addition, 40% of the 43 famous people investigated in this study, had severe health problems as an infant or small child.Įvents that look like seizures, but are not due to epilepsy are called "nonepileptic seizures." A common type is described as psychogenic, which means beginning in the mind. In the research he collected there were many instances in which the individual admitted awareness, while many different movements or symptoms were present.” Furthermore, the length of the attack was an important clue that the attack was psychogenic and not epileptic most psychogenic attacks are longer than 5 minutes while most complex partial or generalized tonic-clonic seizures only last 1-2 minutes. He also argues that “all epileptic attacks should involve some change in awareness on the part of the patient, with the exception of simple partial seizures. Based on this evidence he asserts that improper conclusions were then drawn to diagnose epilepsy. Of the 43 historic figures, “epilepsy was misdiagnosed in 26 % who had psychogenic attacks, in 21 % with attacks of anguish, nervousness, fear, agitation, or weakness and in 12% with alcohol withdrawal seizures.” He maintains that the descriptions offered either by the biographer or by the individual who had the attack often contained the word “fit” -“fit of pain”, “anxiety fit”, “fit of spleen”. Surprisingly, Hughes found that all 43 famous people did not have epilepsy, but various other health related illnesses including psychogenic attacks, anxiety attacks, and alcohol withdrawal seizures.
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