What are psychogenic seizures?
Psychogenic seizures are episodes characterized by convulsions and loss of engine control that are not caused by unusual electrical activity in the brain. Instead, such episodes are caused by intense stress or emotional confusion and do not have a clearly understandable physical origin. On the other hand, epileptic seizures are caused by abnormal electrical discharges, so similar symptoms with psychogenic origin are commonly referred to as psychogenic non -adhesive seizures. Psychogenic seizures are sometimes also referred to as "pseudoseizures", although this name is not widely used, because the lack of understanding physical mechanism for symptoms of seizures resulting from stress and emotion does not mean that varicose episodes are no less real.
epileptic and psychogenic seizures seem very similar, so it is sometimes difficult to distinguish them. There are several differences between epileptic seizures and non -adhesive, such as triggers and specific movements, but these AR are in no way convincing. MostThe convincing diagnostic test for psychogenic seizures involves relatively long -term use of electroencephalography or EEG, sometimes accompanied by video supervision. EEG tests monitor electrical activity in the brain and can be used to determine whether abnormal electrical discharge is accompanied by seizures, which indicates epilepsy. These tests are sometimes performed for days or weeks with an accompanying video to collect and correlate the observed behavior on the EEG electric data.
It should be noted that while psychogenic seizures have a psychological and not physical origin, they are by no means "false" seizures. There are cases where individuals of false seizures for psychological reasons, for some personal profit, or to avoid a certain loss or punishment. In these cases, individuals are pretending to experience seizure symptoms. On the other side of people who suffer pSychogenic seizures, have no control of their symptoms. Their seizures are involuntary in nature and are not calculated actions for personal gain.
Incorrect diagnosis of psychogenic seizures can be costly and harmful to patients. Psychogenic seizures that are incorrectly diagnosed as epileptic seizures can be treated with anti -vulsive drugs or even surgery. Both options are quite expensive and both can have unpleasant side effects. Misdiagnosis, however, is relatively rare due to the ability of medical experts to detect anomalous brain activity.
Most of the treatment of seizures with psychological origin is based on psychotherapy. Seizures can be reduced or prevented by discovering and solving precise psychological origin of seizures. In some cases, other psychological diseases such as depression may be closely related to seizures; Drugs such as antidepressants are often in such cases.