FAQs about psychogenic nonepileptic seizures (PNES)
Some doctors told me that my seizures are "not real" or that I am "faking them"? Am I "going crazy"?
NO, and if a doctor told you that, he/she was mistaken.
PNES episodes are very real and you are not volitionally bringing them on (although with treatment, the patient can gain control over them).
Unfortunately, many doctors and nurses are not well-trained in what PNES are and think that because emotional factors or stress are frequently associated to PNES, patients "must have control" over them. This misunderstanding is slowly changing.
You are not going "crazy" either. The fact that your brain is dealing with underlying emotional difficulties through these episodes only means that your brain is using your body as a way to express something (instead of expressing it in a different way). There are other conditions where stress is thought to play a part in the development of physical symptoms, such as panic attacks, fibromyalgia, irritable bowel syndrome, chronic fatigue and tension headaches.
