title: Dissociative experiences in patients with epilepsy.
abstract: A few studies have explored dissociative experiences in epilepsy patients. We investigated dissociative experiences in patients with epilepsy using the dissociative experiences scale (DES). Ninety-eight patients with epilepsy and sixty healthy controls were enrolled in this study. A sociodemographic questionnaire and the Dissociative Experiences Scale (DES), Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI) were administered to the participants. The DES scores were significantly higher for the patients with epilepsy than the healthy individuals. The number of individuals with pathological dissociation (DES ≥ 30) was higher in the epilepsy group (n = 28) than in the control group (n = 8). Also, higher levels of dissociation were significantly associated with frequency of seizures, but were not associated with duration of epilepsy and age at onset of the disorder. These findings demonstrate that patients with epilepsy are more prone to dissociation than controls. The high rate of dissociative experiences among patients with epilepsy suggest that some epilepsy-related factors are present.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, Yuzuncu Yil University, Van, Turkey.
authors.forename: Osman
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Özdemir
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Faculty of Medicine, Yuzuncu Yil University, Van, Turkey.
authors.forename: Vedat
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Cilingir
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, Yuzuncu Yil University, Van, Turkey.
authors.forename: Pınar Güzel
authors.initials: PG
authors.lastname: Özdemir
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Faculty of Medicine, Yuzuncu Yil University, Van, Turkey.
authors.forename: Aysel
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Milanlioglu
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Faculty of Medicine, Yuzuncu Yil University, Van, Turkey.
authors.forename: Mehmet
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hamamci
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, Yuzuncu Yil University, Van, Turkey.
authors.forename: Ekrem
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Yilmaz
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D004213:Dissociative Disorders / Q000209:etiology* / Q000523:psychology; D004827:Epilepsy / Q000150:complications* / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires