Epilepsy: Psychological Consequences

Next, we are going to describe the main reasons why a person who suffers from epilepsy may begin to show certain psychological alterations.

• Psychosocial factors. Knowing that you suffer from this type of disease contributes to you not feeling well. Although for some people the fact of suffering from it and the inconveniences that it can bring in some situations does not imply any limitations, for others it can be a significant barrier even in their daily lives. For example, there are certain risks that the epileptic person and even other people may have, to mention some of them, falls when the epileptic attack occurs, drowning caused by having a seizure while in water, car accidents, pregnancy complications, etc.
• Characteristics and frequency of seizures. The greater the frequency of epileptic seizures, the greater the psychological consequences. It has been found that this type of alterations or psychological consequences occur more frequently when the epileptic focus is in the area frontal and temporal brain as well as when the seizures suffered are partial and not generalized.
• Medication. It has been found that the use of certain drugs to control epilepsy can help the person feel emotionally well, however there are some others that have the opposite effect. For example, some patients report that after taking Levetiracetam (Keppra), they feel like they are not the same, their mood changes and they do not behave in the same way. It is also necessary to mention that the fact of changing the drug or the dose can influence the person to present certain psychological and emotional disturbances

Epilepsy is a neurological condition that It is not the product of any other type of disease and that it is not contagious. It is necessary to mention that although epileptic people suffer from this type of epileptic seizures, they can carry out all their daily activities before and after the seizure.

The most common psychological consequences that occur in people with epilepsy are the following:

Depression

It is one of the psychological consequences more common that can appear in people who suffer from this type of neurological disorder. Above all, it occurs more frequently in patients who cannot control their number of seizures. A person is diagnosed with depression when the sadness they experience lasts for more than two weeks. The person who suffers from depression loses interest in carrying out the activities that they previously liked, their social relationships stop caring, so it is very common for them to distance themselves from even the people closest to them.

Also experience a lack of energy and tiredness all the time for no apparent reason, he has sleep problems, he lives with an enormous feeling of hopelessness and emotional emptiness, he feels extremely sensitive and his self-esteem drops considerably.

Dysthymia

Persistent depressive disorder, also called dysthymia, is also quite common to occur in epileptic patients. It is a mild form of depression It can last many years for the person who suffers from it and since it is not as obvious as major depression, it is common for them not to give it much importance and therefore take longer to seek help. The person with dysthymia may develop the belief that this persistent feeling of sadness is part of their normal emotional state and personality. The type of personality that they create is characterized by having a pessimistic attitude almost all the time, they are generally passive, they have no sense of humor, they are extremely self-critical of themselves, mostly introverted and they normally complain about everything.

It is very common for people with this type of neurological alteration to present some type of anxiety disorder due to the crises they suffer frequently and above all because they completely lack control over them, which makes them feel more insecure and vulnerable When a person suffers from anxiety, he presents fear reactions as he tries to anticipate certain dangers or threats that he believes he may suffer. In the case of epileptic seizures, the person’s body and mind may be living in tension due to the fear caused by thinking about the moment in which they will suffer the next epileptic attack.

The symptoms presented by a person with anxiety and epilepsy are the following:

• Constant fears
• Unsafety
• Feeling of threat
• Constantly remain on alert
• Difficult to focus
• Night terrors
• Tachycardia
• Sweating
• Muscle tension
• Feeling of lack of air,
• Distress
• Digestive problems
• Being worried most of the time about what is going to happen or what you believe about the future

Another of the most common psychological consequences of epilepsy is the cognitive impairment caused by seizures. After an epileptic seizure, some mental functions such as attention, language and memory are impaired.

In the case of memory, people who suffer or have suffered epileptic seizures present difficulties storing new information and access memories they have already stored.

This article is merely informative, at PsychologyFor we do not have the power to make a diagnosis or recommend a treatment. We invite you to go to a psychologist to treat your particular case.

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