Psychiatria pre prax 4/2014

Epileptic and psychogenic non-epileptic seizures: benefits of uniform terminology and psychotherapeutic treatment options

In the first part the overview article is focused on the differential diagnostics of epileptic (ES) and non-epileptic (NES), mostly psychogenic non-epileptic seizures (PNES). It emphasizes the difficulties which can occur as a result of disunited interdisciplinary terminology. In the second part the article offers new possibilities of psychotherapy in patients with PNES and patients with combined EP and PNES. At the end of the article there is a case report of a female patient with the diagnosis of combined EP and PNES seizures; the patient has been treated both antiepileptic medication and psychotherapy. Specifically, katathym imaginative psychotherapy (KIP; also known as guided affective imagery, GAI) has been used. The article shows the necessity of interdisciplinary cooperation of a neurologist, psychiatrist, and clinical psychologist.

Keywords: psychogenic non-epileptic seizures, epileptic seizures, differential diagnosis, psychotherapy of PNES, katathym imaginative psychotherapy.