THE CASE FOR A DISSOCIATIVE INTERPRETATION OF PSEUDOEPILEPTIC SEIZURES

A pseudoepileptic seizure (PES) can be considered as a paroxysmal beha vior pattern that mimics epilepsy and is initiated by psychological me chanisms. There is no evidence that the symptomatology of PES forms a specific syndrome. The paper presents evidence for the explanatory val ue of the concept of dissociation in at least a subgroup of PES. Chara cteristics of patients with PES and possible factors in the etiology o f PES are reviewed. Based on the dissociation hypothesis, some suggest ions are offered to explain the relatively high comorbidity of PES and epilepsy.