PNES: Psychogenic Nonepileptic Seizures Benefit From Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

Wednesday, July 2, 2014 - 18:10 in Health & Medicine

Psychogenic nonepileptic seizures (PNES) are seizures that resemble epilepsy but are instead a psychological condition. It is not the result of abnormal brain electrical activity. Because it looks like epilepsy, but isn't, it can be made worse by anti-epileptic medications. Diagnoses is subjective so there are claims that up to 20 percent of civilians and as many as 25 percent of veterans diagnosed as having epilepsy actually have PNES.  A clinical trial found a reduction in seizures and improvement in related symptoms, including depression and anxiety, in patients with psychogenic nonepileptic seizures who were treated with cognitive behavioral therapy informed psychotherapy (CBT-ip) with and without the medication sertraline. read more

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