FACTORS DISTINGUISHING FAMILIES OF PATIENTS WITH PSYCHOGENIC SEIZURESFROM FAMILIES OF PATIENTS WITH EPILEPSY

Purpose: Psychogenic seizures (PS) (emotionally based nonelectrical se izures) have been explained by psychodynamics and trauma. However, the family health literature suggests that somatization, of which psychog enic seizures are a form, may run in families and be determined by fam ily patterns of response to distress. This study compared families of patients with PS and those of patients with epilepsy on variables of d istress (anxiety and depression) and somatization. Methods: Eighteen p atients (9 with PS and 9 with epilepsy) matched for age and education, and their families answered the Health Status Questionnaire (HSQ), th e Weinberger Adjustment Inventory (WAI), the Family Emotional Involvem ent and Criticism Scale (FEICS), Barsky's Somatization Symptom Invento ry (SS), and the Dissociation Experience Scale (DES). Family members' scores were averaged to obtain ''family scores.'' Results: Patients wi th PS and those with epilepsy did not differ in any of the measures. H owever, families of patients with PS reported more health problems, di stress, and criticism than did families of patients with epilepsy (p < 0.05). Families of patients with PS had increased criticism and somat ic problem scores comparable to those of both types of patients. Concl usions: Although epilepsy causes patients physical and emotional probl ems, their families are relatively healthy. In contrast, families of p atients with PS are more troubled and may unwittingly contribute to PS through family distress, criticism, and tendencies to somatize.