Primary care and emergency physician attitudes and beliefs related to patients with psychogenic nonepileptic spells

Life after being diagnosed with psychogenic non-epileptic seizures (PNES): A South African perspective

“…Family therapy might also have many benefits for the patient and their family support structures [29]. This may be expanded on by educating medical professionals about PNES to improve attitudes and misperceptions about the disorder, and thus also speed up diagnosis and thus treatment [39].…”

“…A South African study also revealed that many who have chronic mental health disorders are unaware that they could have a diagnosable condition, and that treatment is available for their illness, and thus they do not seek help [47]. It is extremely challenging for medical professionals to correctly diagnose PNES in patients, and it requires knowledge and expertise, skills which cannot be attributed to all medical professionals [39]. Eastman [49] stated that in personal communication with the Neurological Association of South Africa it became clear that the health care system cannot cope with the amount of people presenting with seizures, and thus there is a gap between treatment and seizure activity.…”

Psychogenic non-epileptic seizures: A challenging entity

“…More than half of the emergency medicine specialists surveyed felt that patients induce the events voluntarily. 74 In a survey at our institution, 48.38% (15/31) of inpatient nurses who care for patients with PNES on a regular basis felt that the seizures were 'fake' and that patients had control over them (unpublished).…”

Psychogenic nonepileptic seizures are Cinderella seizures, and Epilepsy & Behavior is their Prince Charming

“…However, a survey of primary care and emergency physicians found that there were still ignorance and misperceptions surrounding PNESs [5]. There remains a need for ongoing education and outreach to referring physicians about PNESs, especially since early diagnosis of PNESs is associated with better outcomes [5]. Scientific societies and journals have a responsibility to increase and maintain knowledge and attitudes of epileptologists and general neurologists towards PNESs.…”