Nonepileptic seizures: psychiatric framework, treatment, and outcome

Abstract

Nonepileptic seizures (NES) are usually psychiatrically classified as conversion seizures, but NES can also represent misdiagnosed symptoms of panic, dissociation, or traumatic flashbacks. This article offers analogies for explaining NES to patients, steps for initial neurologic management, discussion of common categories of underlying psychiatric diagnoses, an outline of psychiatric treatments for NES, and an overview of prognostic predictors of better and worse outcomes.