From epileptic hysteria to psychogenic non epileptic seizure: Continuity or discontinuity for contemporary psychiatry?

In the wake of Charcot, École de la Salpêtrière became passionate about major crises or hysterical attacks: at time, hysteria was not just this great crisis, even if it represented an ideal heuristic model for a patient presentation that left lasting impression on people's minds. The attack is framework study hystero-epilepsy opens way to psychopathological explanation. heirs School's knowledge protesters each boast imposing universal seen from perspective its causes. If Babinski considers be purely psychogenic mechanism, subconscious mind self-suggestion, subject abandoning himself his symptom. Unlike pithiatism, Freud and Breuer understand crisis as cleavage content consciousness testifies return forgotten traumatic memory. These questions, partly eclipsed by modern psychiatry, are resurfacing with description new clinical entity: nonepileptic seizure. Non-epileptic seizures (PNES) can defined paroxysmal manifestations clinically suggestive epileptic but related unconscious processes. Clinical diagnosis particularly difficult. Most patients PNES incorrectly use anticonvulsant therapy, which ineffective has frequent side effects. To establish discriminates between epilepsy, electroencephalographic recording coupled video paraclinical examination choice. treatment PNESs complex: despite made joint follow-up specialized team neurologists psychiatrists, prognosis remains uncertain. We sought phenomenal continuity attack, non-epileptic From one time another, elimination. A reference found over currently confusing into dissociative somatoform disorders. Consistent ancient theories, psychotraumatic dimension epileptoid phenomenon in recent epidemiological studies. Since attacks, entity called group heterogeneous etiologies. Some research teams consider result non-epileptic, normal electroencephalogram neuronal hyperexcitability. Other authors have adopted etiological hypothesis recurrent disorders equivalent particular form post-traumatic stress disorder.