Psychological Treatment of Nonepileptic Events

Abstract

Nonepileptic events (NEEs) occur with and without true seizure disorders and vary greatly in clinical presentation. They are often associated with significant psychopathology. This paper proposes six categories of NEE patients based on psychosocial history, NEE etiology, and mechanisms of and response to psychotherapy. A series of 26 adult NEE patients were grouped according to six symptom patterns: (a) acute anxiety/panic, (b) impaired affect regulation and interpersonal skills, (c) somatization/conversion, (d) depression, (e) posttraumatic stress disorder, and (f) reinforced behavior pattern. Classification was made on the basis of the specific psychotherapeutic interventions found most effective with each patient group.