Risk Factors
Most PNES patients (75%) are women, with onset in the late teens to early twenties being typical. PNES patients often have a history of multiple vague, unexplained medical problems and may have a psychiatric condition such as major depressive disorder or an anxiety disorder or bipolar disorder. A number of researchers have identified abnormal personality traits or personality disorders in patients with PNES such as borderline personality. The presence of these personality disorders, often related to a trauma in childhood, has led to researchers postulating that PNES may be an expression of repressed psychological harm in response to trauma such as child abuse. Over-emphasising these theories to patients may lead to false memory syndrome so they should be introduced delicately. Other traumatic experiences such as bullying in adulthood, learning disabilities, sexual abuse or adverse family dynamics may also be important pre-disposing or maintaining factors.
Read more about this topic: Hystero-epilepsy
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