Can Emotional Trauma Cause Epilepsy?

Epilepsy can be caused by a wide variety of factors, such as a stroke, a brain tumour or a severe head injury. Epilepsy seizures are caused by disruptions to the electrical impulses that occur in our brains and can result in one of several types of seizures. 

The question here, however, is whether emotional trauma could cause a person to have epilepsy. Emotional trauma could cover a wide range of psychological issues, such as PTSD, excessive stress or the emotional trauma of losing a loved one. Whilst emotional trauma can certainly lead to seizures, a seizure in itself may not be enough for a diagnosis of epilepsy, and these are often called non-epileptic seizures (NES). 

To summarise, emotional trauma is not believed to be a cause of epilepsy, but it can be a cause of seizures. Emotional stress can also be a trigger to increase the frequency of seizures in a person who already has epilepsy, although it is unlikely to be the underlying cause. 

What is a dissociative seizure?

Dissociative seizures can look very similar to epilepsy seizures, however, unlike an epilepsy seizure, an NES seizure is not typically caused by abnormal electrical activity in the brain. 

Dissociative seizures are often caused by mental or emotional causes, unlike an epilepsy seizure which is caused by an underlying brain disorder and a disturbance of the electrical activity. These seizures can occur when a person is in emotional pain from a frightening or upsetting experience, having disturbing or distressing thoughts that manifest in a physical reaction, in this case a seizure. 

These types of seizures often occur as a defence mechanism within the body as it creates an altered state of consciousness that prevents the person from feeling the emotional trauma or emotion that’s related to a traumatic experience. 

A dissociative seizure can present in a number of ways, but most commonly will include heart palpitations, sweating, dry mouth and hyperventilation. They can also include loss of awareness, loss of sensation and a loss in the control of body movement. It’s the latter symptoms that mean they are often mistaken for a tonic-clonic seizure. 

Misdiagnosis

Dissociative seizures and epilepsy seizures can be incredibly difficult to tell apart. For this reason, around 1 in 5 people experiencing a non-epilepsy seizure can be misdiagnosed as having epilepsy. The key difference between the two is simply the underlying cause, which may not be clear from the outset and make it very difficult for healthcare professionals to differentiate between the two. 

It’s also possible that a person may be having seizures as a result of emotional trauma they have repressed, which can mean that they aren’t even aware of the trauma enough to disclose it to the healthcare professional who is assessing them. 

Treatment

Once diagnosed as having dissociative seizures, treatment  is possible. Whilst epilepsy is commonly treated with anti-seizure medication (AEDs), these will not be effective for non-epileptic seizures. 

Instead, it’s likely that the recommendation would be that the person undergo psychotherapy or cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) with the aim of treating the underlying trauma. Psychotherapy is the name given to a variety of ‘talking’ therapies with mental health professionals, such as psychiatrists and psychologists, trained in the various forms. 

CBT is another therapy that analyses the way a person sees things and how they can affect them physically and emotionally. The aim is to offer coping methods and to ultimately change the way a person thinks and therefore how these thoughts affect them.