PROVIDENCE, R.I., April 20 (UPI) -- U.S. medical scientists say they've determined cognitive behavioral therapy can reduce the frequency of non-epileptic seizures.
The researchers at Rhode Island Hospital found cognitive behavioral therapy used for patients with psychogenic non-epileptic seizures also improved their overall quality of life.
PNES is a condition marked by seizures resembling epileptic seizures. Unlike epilepsy, however, seizures in patients with PNES are not caused by the same brain cell firing that occurs with epilepsy.
The scientists led by Dr. Curt LaFrance Jr. developed a cognitive behavioral therapy manual for PNES treatment. Modified from a CBT workbook for patients with epilepsy, the treatment manual outlines a clinical model for management of PNES, including identifying precursors, precipitants and perpetuating factors of the seizures.
"Based on the tendency of patients with PNES to somatize (to manifest mental pain as pain in one's body), we hypothesized that identifying and modifying cognitive distortions and environmental triggers for PNES would reduce PNES."
The study appears in the journal Epilepsy and Behavior.
