Stress, Depression and Epilepsy

The September 2008 issue of Epilepsy and Behavior presents the results of a study examining the relationship between psychological factors (anxiety, stress, and depression) and epileptic seizures. Using a longitudinal study design with 433 subjects, data was collected concerning anxiety, depression, perceived stress, and time since last seizure using standard psychometric testing. The subjects were tested on two separate occasions to determine change over time. The researchers used statistical modeling techniques to test how psychological factors acted together in predicting frequency and length of seizures. The results indicated that stress, anxiety and depression all predicted the time since the last seizure. Depression, however, was found to be the most significant mediating factor. The researchers concluded that the role of depression in epileptic seizures emphasized the importance of depression management in addition to seizure management in the assessment and treatment of epilepsy in an adult population.

Click here for the abstract.

Comments

[Kelly]

Thanks for the information on epilepsy. I didn't know it could be attached to things like sleep deprivation!

We recently wrote an article (http://brainblogger.com/2008/10/26/learning-from-mistakes-in-the-diagnosis-and-treatment-of-epilepsy/) on epilepsy treatment at Brain Blogger (http://brainblogger.com/). There are quite a few mistakes made when diagnosing a treating patients with epilepsy. But what if these mistakes could lead to a possible cure?

We would like to read your comments on our article. Thank you.

Sincerely,
Kelly