What are psychogenic non-epileptic seizures (PNES)?
Psychogenic non-epileptic seizures (PNES) are attacks or events involving abnormal movements, unconsciousness, other experiences or a combination of these, very similar to epileptic seizures. Unlike epileptic seizures that result from sudden abnormal electrical discharges in the brain, PNES are not associated with abnormal brain electrical discharges. PNES are the expression of an emotional response linked to distressing events of which the patients may or may not be aware. Other names for PNES include pseudoseizures, dissociative seizures, non-epileptic attacks, non-epileptic events. Here, we will use the term “psychogenic non-epileptic seizures” (PNES) and we will refer to each episode of a PNES as an “event” or “attack.” How common are PNES? PNES are commonly mistaken as epilepsy. One in four to five patients sent to epilepsy centers for difficult-to-treat seizures are determined to have PNES instead of epilepsy, although the rate of PNES is much lower in an unselected community pop
