The most frequent cognitive complaints in adults are feeling slowed down mentally, memory impairment, and attention problems . Memory problems are an important feature of seizures arising from one part of the brain called the temporal lobe. Short-term memory problems are seen most often.
How do seizures affect personality?
Many people who have epilepsy experience dysphoric episodes. These episodes, which can last between a few hours and a few days, consist of depressive moods, irritability, lack of energy, pain, anxiety, insomnia, and euphoric moods .
Does epilepsy affect mental capacity?
Neurocognitive impairment is frequent in epilepsy patients. Causes are multiple, and may be influenced by several factors including the epilepsy syndrome. Most cognitive complaints in adult patients are mental slowness, memory difficulties and attention deficits.
How does epilepsy affect the mind?
Epilepsy is a central nervous system (neurological) disorder in which brain activity becomes abnormal, causing seizures or periods of unusual behavior, sensations and sometimes loss of awareness .
Can seizures be psychological?
PNES are attacks that may look like epileptic seizures but are not epileptic and instead are cause by psychological factors . Sometimes a specific traumatic event can be identified. PNES are sometimes referred to as psychogenic events, psychological events, or nonepileptic seizures (NES).
Can seizures cause split personality?
From the Department of Neurology, UCLA School of Medicine. Two individuals with well-defined seizure problems developed dual personalities . One personality was irritable and hostile, the other placid; in each case, a major seizure preceded the shift from the former to the latter.
Why is epilepsy a mental condition?
Epilepsy News From:
Epilepsy is not a mental illness . In fact, the vast majority of people living with epilepsy have no cognitive or psychological problem. For the most part, psychological issues in epilepsy are limited to people with severe and uncontrolled epilepsy.
What are the long term effects of a seizure?
Long lasting seizures, or status epilepticus, may also cause brain damage or death . People with epilepsy are eight times more likely than people without it to experience certain other chronic conditions, including dementia, migraine, heart disease, and depression.
How does seizures affect the brain?
Seizures Causing Brain Injury
Scientific evidence and research have long shown that prolonged seizures can kill brain cells and cause other damage . More recent research also suggests that smaller, recurring seizures can also contribute to nerve cell injury within the brain.
Do seizures affect cognitive ability?
Static Effects of Seizures on Cognition. Individuals with prolonged seizures lasting 30 minutes or more, a condition termed status epilepticus (SE), or frequent recurrent seizures are at particular risk for brain injuries that can result in cognitive impairment.
Do seizures affect memory?
Any type of epileptic seizure could potentially affect your memory, either during or after a seizure . If you have lots of seizures, memory problems might happen more often. Some people have generalised seizures that affect all of the brain.
Can epilepsy cause bipolar?
Another common mood disorder in people with epilepsy is bipolar affective disorder . It is characterized by two types of symptoms: depression and mania.
What body systems are affected by seizures?
Overview. Epilepsy is a neurological condition involving the brain that makes people more susceptible to having recurrent seizures. It is one of the most common disorders of the nervous system and affects people of all ages, races, and ethnic background.
What happens during a psychogenic seizure?
During a PNES episode, you may have jerky movements, tingling skin, or problems with coordination . You may notice changes in your vision or sense of smell. Some people have episodes often. Others have them only once in a while.
Can emotional stress cause seizures?
Emotional stress also can lead to seizures . Emotional stress is usually related to a situation or event that has personal meaning to you. It may be a situation in which you feel a loss of control. In particular, the kind of emotional stress that leads to most seizures is worry or fear.
Can seizures cause psychosis?
Postictal psychosis has been estimated to affect between 6% and 10% of people with epilepsy . It involves psychiatric symptoms that occur within 7 days (usually within 1 to 3 days) after a seizure or seizure cluster in a person who does not have these symptoms at other times (or at least has them in a much milder form).
Can seizures rewire the brain?
The effects of seizures during early life
Research performed over several decades suggests that seizure-induced brain injury is highly dependent upon developmental age, with the juvenile and adult brain being more susceptible to damage and rewiring after seizures than the brain of the newborn .
Can epilepsy cause borderline personality?
The clinical presentation of borderline personality disorder (BPD) bears a striking resemblance to the behavioral alterations associated with temporal lobe epilepsy . Using the Limbic System Checklist-33, we found that BPD subjects reported more symptoms associated with partial seizures than did control subjects.
What are dissociative seizures?
Dissociative seizures happen for psychological reasons rather than physical ones. Often dissociative seizures are how the brain reacts to thoughts or feelings related to present and past experiences . This is different from epilepsy. Epileptic seizures happen because of abnormal electrical activity in the brain.
Do seizures cause anxiety?
Seizures Can Cause Intense Anxiety
An epilepsy diagnosis can be very stressful. Epileptic seizures can cause intense anxiety. Epileptics may live in fear of the next seizure. Epilepsy may temporarily alter your brain chemistry in a way that causes more anxiety.
Are seizures considered a disability?
If you suffer from seizures that impact your ability to work, you may be eligible to get Social Security disability .
Can epilepsy cause aggressive behavior?
It is now believed that most people with epilepsy are no more likely than others to act aggressively . A few do have episodes of aggressive behavior between seizures (interictal aggression). Researchers have proposed that there are syndromes of interictal behavior changes that can occur in people with epilepsy.
Do seizures shorten life span?
Epilepsy can shorten life, but most of the time it does not . Be aware of risks and take sensible precautions, but do not let the risks put you into a state of constant worry. Consult with your doctor for specific information about your risk factors for injury due to seizures.
What can trigger a seizure?
- Missing medication. The most common reason for a seizure is forgetting to take your anti-epileptic drugs (AED) or deliberately not taking it. ...
- Alcohol. ...
- Recreational drugs. ...
- Caffeine. ...
- Lack of sleep / tiredness. ...
- Stress / anxiety. ...
- Boredom. ...
- Dehydration.
How long can a seizure last before brain damage?
A seizure that lasts longer than 5 minutes , or having more than 1 seizure within a 5 minutes period, without returning to a normal level of consciousness between episodes is called status epilepticus. This is a medical emergency that may lead to permanent brain damage or death.
