Emotional regulation and psychogenic nonepileptic seizures: A cross-sectional comparison of patients and healthy people
Abstract
Introduction: Psychogenic non-epileptic seizures are paroxysmal, time-limited changes in physical or psychological functions, manifested in behavior, experience or perception based on psychological etiology. Their clinical image resembles epileptic seizures, but they are not a manifestation of abnormal synchronized neuronal activity.
The essence of PNES is the unconscious expression of emotional distress. Aim: The purpose of our effort was to assess the presence of maladaptive emotional regulation of the patients diagnosed with PNES (n = 51) compared to healthy volunteers (n = 51).
Of the selected diagnostic tools for assessing emotional regulation, we have choose the Affective Style Questionnaire (ASQ) and the Difficulty in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS) for our research. Our decision for these tools stems from the intention to pay attention to the general affective styles in experiencing patients with PNES diagnosis.
Conclusion: From the wide range of predisposing and precipitating factors preceding the development of PNES, we decided to devote both the theoretical and research attention to this key dynamic psychological mechanism in PNES, because it is a significant area in subsequent psychotherapy work with these patients.