The crying child and dacrystic seizures: a diagnostic conundrum

Abstract

Dacrystic seizures I Case notesA nine-year-old girl with a back- Key learning points• There is a high rate of psychiatric comorbidity with epilepsy.• Seizures that involve an affective component, such as dacrystic or gelastic seizures, can still be comorbid with psychiatric disorders that require intervention from mental health teams.• Dacrystic seizures are rare occurrences, but if missed can impact significantly on quality of life.• There is a strong need to have a very clear understanding of the clinical presentation, and unhindered communication between both psychological and physical health services.• The appreciation of the overlap between physical and mental health symptomatology for doctors in specialty training is likely to contribute to robust service provision in the future.