Nursing

Pseudoseizures (also called nonepileptic events) look like grand mal epileptic seizures and can be very convincing, even to a neurologist. Patients may present with dilated pupils, tonic-clonic movements, and tooth grinding. These events have purely psychological causes, however, without the electroencephalographic evidence of epilepsy. While pseudoseizures can be "fake," as in the cases of patients seeking attention or disability, they are more often a form of conversion disorder, in which severe psychological stressors are converted subconsciously into physical symptoms. Treatment for pseudoseizures is a mental health referral to determine the patient's stressors that are causing the events. Generally, patients are relieved to know that the events are nonepileptic.

Marie Lasater, RN, MSN, CCRN, CNRN