title: Dissociation and childhood abuse history in epileptic and pseudoseizure patients.
abstract: The aim of this study was to examine dissociative experiences, childhood abuse and anxiety in epileptic and pseudoseizure female patients. Thirty-three patients with pseudoseizures and thirty patients with epilepsy were recruited from Cumhuriyet University Hospital Psychiatry and Neurology Units. We assessed each participant using the Dissociative Experiences Scale, the Clinician-Administered Dissociative States Scale and the Childhood Abuse and Neglect Questionnaire. The female patients with pseudoseizures showed significantly higher levels of dissociative experiences and childhood trauma. Epileptic female patients showed higher levels of anxiety. The significantly higher incidence of dissociative experiences and childhood trauma in the patients with pseudoseizures makes a case for dissociation in the pathogenesis of these seizures.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, Cumhuriyet University, Sivas, Turkey.
authors.forename: Gamze
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Akyuz
authors.forename: Nesim
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Kugu
authors.forename: Aytekin
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Akyuz
authors.forename: Orhan
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Dogan
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001007:Anxiety / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology; D002648:Child; D002650:Child Abuse, Sexual / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology*; D004213:Dissociative Disorders / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology*; D004493:Education; D004827:Epilepsy / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D012640:Seizures / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology*; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014421:Turkey