Self-reported anxiety and sleep problems in people with epilepsy and their association with quality of life

Anxiety disorders in people with epilepsy

“…State anxiety was significantly associated with symptomatic focal epilepsy, and trait anxiety with high seizure frequency, symptomatic focal epilepsy and female gender in a study from Greece (Kimiskidis et al, 2007). The coexistence of another chronic disorder does not seem to have an influence on the presence of anxiety symptoms in PWE (Asadi-Pooya et al, 2007) although poorer general health has been found as a contributing factor to anxiety (Jacoby et al, 2015). Good social support is, however, protective (Jacoby et al, 2015).…”

“…The coexistence of another chronic disorder does not seem to have an influence on the presence of anxiety symptoms in PWE (Asadi-Pooya et al, 2007) although poorer general health has been found as a contributing factor to anxiety (Jacoby et al, 2015). Good social support is, however, protective (Jacoby et al, 2015). A recent review analyzed studies assessing risk factors for depression and anxiety in epilepsy patients (Gandy et al, 2012).…”

“…Trait anxiety seems to be more associated with poorer quality-of-life than state anxiety (Jacoby et al, 2015). Health locus of control (HLOC) is a concept that concerns a person's beliefs regarding where control over his or her illness lies.…”

“…An explanation, however, may be that patients attribute seizures to irrelevant factors and thus experience anxiety. Anxiety (and also depression) is associated with the presence of adverse events (AE) to antiepileptic drugs (Gomez-Arias et al, 2012, Jacoby et al, 2015. This is actually a finding that may have a major impact on clinical practice: It can be speculated that it might be necessary in patients who report a high number or severity of AE to focus on a comorbid anxiety or mood disorder rather than merely on changing the antiepileptic drug regimen.…”

A Case of anxiety disorder acquired subsequent to hot water epilepsy

“…It has been reported that the presence of depression, perceived adverse drug effects, low education level, comorbid physical disorders, female gender, and unemployment were related to development of the anxiety disorder in epilepsy patients (15). In another study, it has been found that having a poor general health condition increased the development of anxiety disorder, whereas social support protected against it (16).…”