Between 30 and 50 percent of children with epilepsy will develop a behavioral or mental health problem. The types of behavioral problems associated with epilepsy include attention deficit, hyperactivity, anxiety, depression, aggression, and autism spectrum disorder. Can epilepsy affect your personality?
The most common mood disorders in people with epilepsy are major depression and dysthymia. Some people have milder forms of depression that may also affect quality of life and respond to treatment. Anxiety, while not technically a mood disorder, is another common emotion that occurs more often in people with epilepsy.
People with mood disorders are more likely to experience seizures of both kinds—seizures that are due to epilepsy and seizures that are not. And it seems that the relationship flows in both directions: having a mood disorder increases the risk of seizures, and having seizures increases the risk of a mood disorder.
Can epilepsy cause mental retardation?
Epidemiological studies indicate that there is a high rate of mental retardation and behavioural problems in children with epilepsy. In some cases both the epilepsy and the mental retardation will have a common cause, such as a metabolic disorder or brain trauma.
Does epilepsy affect mental capacity?
Common co-morbidities that occur in epilepsy include cognitive dysfunction, such as memory, attention, or processing difficulties; mental health conditions, including depression or anxiety; and somatic co-morbidities, such as sleep disorders and migraines. Epilepsy comorbidities are common and often severe.
The Intersection of Epilepsy and Psychiatric Disorders
Does epilepsy damage the brain?
Prolonged seizures are clearly capable of injuring the brain. Isolated, brief seizures are likely to cause negative changes in brain function and possibly loss of specific brain cells.
What are long term effects of epilepsy?
Long lasting seizures, or status epilepticus, may also cause brain damage or death. People with epilepsy are eight times more likely than people without it to experience certain other chronic conditions, including dementia, migraine, heart disease, and depression.
Is epilepsy linked to schizophrenia?
Studies have identified a clear association between epilepsy and mental disorders, including depression, anxiety, schizophrenia and psychosis. A Danish study has e.g. shown that people with epilepsy have a risk of developing schizophrenia that is two-and-a-half times higher than those without epilepsy.
Is epilepsy a mental disability?
Epilepsy is not a mental illness. In fact, the vast majority of people living with epilepsy have no cognitive or psychological problem. For the most part, psychological issues in epilepsy are limited to people with severe and uncontrolled epilepsy.
Does epilepsy cause intellectual disability?
Most people with epilepsy do not have intellectual disabilities, but a substantial minority of people with intellectual disabilities have epilepsy. Epilepsy is known to be a potentially disabling, chronic and socially isolating condition.
Can epilepsy cause bipolar?
Another common mood disorder in people with epilepsy is bipolar affective disorder. It is characterized by two types of symptoms: depression and mania.
Can a seizure cause bipolar?
Biochemical, structural, and functional abnormalities in primary bipolar disorder could also occur secondary to seizure disorders. The kindling paradigm, invoked as a model for understanding seizure disorders, has also been applied to the episodic nature of bipolar disorder.
What problems can epilepsy cause?
People with epilepsy tend to have more physical problems (such as fractures and bruising from injuries related to seizures), as well as higher rates of psychological conditions, including anxiety and depression.
Can epilepsy cause PTSD?
People with epilepsy can develop Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder due to anxiety and depression. For some, having a seizure can be traumatic enough for them to develop Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. The signs and symptoms of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder should not be ignored.
Do people with epilepsy have anger issues?
Epilepsy (especially complex partial seizures) frequently has been associated with aggressive behavior in the minds of people in general and even in the medical literature.
Do epileptics have mood swings?
There is also a significant component of comorbid anxiety (social phobia and/or generalized anxiety disorder) and quite evident mood instability. What seems to be typical of patients with epilepsy is the presence of a specific pattern of mood symptoms with dysphoria and mood swings mostly around the seizures.
Can epilepsy cause behavior problems in adults?
It is true that behavior difficulties can be caused or worsened by epilepsy. Several aspects of epilepsy can affect the brain and contribute to behavior problems: underlying brain damage. the seizures themselves.
How does epilepsy cause depression?
People with epilepsy are more likely to develop depression and other mood disorders, even before they have their first seizure. This suggests that the changes in the brain that make a person susceptible to seizures also make them more susceptible to depression than the general population.
What kind of disability is epilepsy?
Is Epilepsy Considered A Disability? Epilepsy is considered a disability and it has a listing in the Social Security Administration (SSA) Blue Book. For epilepsy to qualify for disability benefits, it must meet the criteria of the Blue Book listing. There are different listings for epilepsy in the Blue Book.
Can epilepsy cause psychotic symptoms?
Psychosis in people with epilepsy is most often classified according to the time when episodes occur, in relation to seizures: Postictal psychosis has been estimated to affect between 6% and 10% of people with epilepsy.
What is epilepsy psychosis?
Epileptic psychoses reflect a fundamental disruption in the fidelity of mind and occur during seizure freedom or during or after seizures. The psychotic symptoms in epilepsy share some qualities with schizophrenic psychosis, such as positive symptoms of paranoid delusions and hallucinations.
Can epilepsy cause you to hear voices?
Epilepsy. When seizures from epilepsy affect the brain area that processes hearing, you might hear a buzzing sound or voices. In some cases, it warps how you hear things, so they're not as loud or clear.
Does epilepsy shorten life?
Epilepsy can shorten life, but most of the time it does not. Be aware of risks and take sensible precautions, but do not let the risks put you into a state of constant worry. Consult with your doctor for specific information about your risk factors for injury due to seizures.
What foods should epileptics avoid?
white bread; non-wholegrain cereals; biscuits and cakes; honey; high-sugar drinks and foods; fruit juices; chips; mashed potatoes; parsnips; dates and watermelon. In general, processed or overcooked foods and over-ripe fruits.
Can epilepsy cause permanent brain damage?
Permanent neurological damage can happen after about 30 minutes of status epilepticus due to prolonged abnormal electrical activity in the affected area of the brain. Status epilepticus is a medical emergency.
