Markus Reuber – författare

Psychogenic Non-Epileptic Seizures (PNES) can cause blackouts, collapses, involuntary movements, loss of memory and have major impact on quality of life. Whereas epilepsy is caused by abnormal electrical activity in the brain, PNES are psychological-based responses to triggers inside or outside the body that are perceived as threatening by the person affected.PNES are poorly understood by the medical community. It is common for doctors to struggle to explain this diagnosis, which can leave their patients frustrated and confused. Often people are told that their PNES are caused by "stress" and sent away with no further support or advice. It is no wonder that those affected feel isolated, abandoned and hopeless about living with the condition.In Our Words: Personal Accounts of Living with Non-Epileptic Seizures shows those diagnosed with PNES that they are not alone, and how others have courageously managed to come to terms with their seizures. These heartfelt personal accounts will also allow family, friends, healthcare providers and researchers to gain more understanding of the condition and work to provide a better quality of life to those living with PNES.

To an outside observer, Psychogenic Non-Epileptic Seizures (PNES) look like epileptic seizures. The manifestations of PNES include collapses, impaired consciousness, and seizure-related injuries. However, unlike epileptic seizures, which are the result of abnormal electrical discharges in the brain, most PNES are an automatic psychological response to a trigger perceived as threatening. Not least because the changes in the brain that underpin PNES cannot be visualised easily with clinical tests (such as the EEG), there are many uncertainties and controversies surrounding the condition. Patients often provoke a mixture of emotions in healthcare professionals. In the authors' previous book, In Our Words: Personal Accounts of Living with Non-Epileptic Seizures, over 100 individuals with PNES and their family wrote about their experiences with the condition. While some had positive care experiences, many were left feeling confused, angry, and abandoned by the clinicians they had encountered. Non-Epileptic Seizures in Our Experience: Accounts of Health Care Professionals complements the authors' previous book by presenting the perspectives of over 90 members of different healthcare professions from around the world. The anonymous publication format has enabled many not only to share success stories but also to be open about difficulties and failures. This volume will be an invaluable resource for both highly experienced professionals as well as relative novice and those experiencing PNES. This book will challenge negative attitudes surrounding the condition, improve understanding between healthcare professionals and patients, and - ultimately - advance the quality of care provided for those with PNES.

Just over a century after the publication of Sir William Gowers' famous last book, The Border-land of Epilepsy, Faints, Vagal Attacks, Vertigo, Migraine, Sleep Symptoms, and their Treatment, this book returns to the "borderland of epilepsy - near it, but not of it", i.e. to disorders which may be mistaken for epilepsy or which are associated with epilepsy and can develop into or out of epileptic seizures. Internationally recognized experts, provide up-to-date knowledge in all areas covered in Gowers' original publication and also in those borderlands redefined since - including anxiety or hyperventilation attacks, psychogenic nonepileptic seizures, epileptic and nonepileptic encephalopathies, autism, autoimmune encephalopathies, Tourette's Syndrome, transient ischemic attacks, transient global amnesia, myoclonus, alcohol-related seizures, hyperekplexia and dyskinesia, stereotypical behaviors, organic personality disorder and episodic dyscontrol syndrome. The Borderland of Epilepsy Revisited addresses conditions presenting in children, adolescents and adults. Case reports and tables (especially those which address the differential diagnosis of epilepsy and the disorders discussed) make the book accessible and clinically useful.