Melancholic major depression and epilepsy

Summary An analysis is carried out of a set of psychic phenomena appearing always in the same way: an experience suddenly invades the consciousness, unfolding automatically and with great intensity. This psychic automatism, of which the patient is a passive observer, is accompanied by an overwhelmin...

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Published in:Medical hypotheses 2007, Vol.69 (5), p.1046-1053
Main Authors: Alvarez-Silva, Iria, Alvarez-Rodriguez, Javier, Alvarez-Silva, Sergio, Perez-Echeverria, M.J, Campayo-Martínez, Antonio
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Comorbidity
Depressive Disorder - epidemiology
Depressive Disorder - psychology
Depressive Disorder, Major - epidemiology
Depressive Disorder, Major - psychology
Emotions
Epilepsy - epidemiology
Epilepsy - psychology
Humans
Internal Medicine
Models, Neurological
Models, Psychological
Prevalence
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Summary:Summary An analysis is carried out of a set of psychic phenomena appearing always in the same way: an experience suddenly invades the consciousness, unfolding automatically and with great intensity. This psychic automatism, of which the patient is a passive observer, is accompanied by an overwhelming feeling of strangeness. Our hypothesis is that these phenomena are the expression of partial seizures with a psychic content, and the name Paroxysmal Psychic Automatisms is proposed for all of them. A comparative study is then made of the phenomenology of partial seizures with a psychic content, on the one hand, and of that of melancholic major depression, on the other. It reveals a wealth of clinical information indicating an overlap between the two conditions. Finally, a set of well-established scientific data is analysed concerning epilepsy and depression, especially epidemiological and psychopharmacological information, which takes on a new meaning in the light of the hypothesis developed in this paper.
ISSN:0306-9877
1532-2777
DOI:10.1016/j.mehy.2007.01.088