Dissociation, hypnotizability, coping styles and health locus of control: characteristics of pseudoseizure patients

Although literature in this area is relatively sparse, the occurrence of psychogenic non-epileptic seizures (pseudoseizures) has been linked to stress, anxiety and possible dissociative tendencies. An association between dissociation and hypnotic susceptibility has also been proposed and dissociativ...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Seizure (London, England) England), 2000-07, Vol.9 (5), p.314-322
Main Authors: Goldstein, Laura H., Drew, Catherine, Mellers, John, Mitchell-O’Malley, Sara, Oakley, David A.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adaptation, Psychological
Adult
Analysis of Variance
Attitude to Health
Case-Control Studies
coping
dissociation
Dissociative Disorders
Female
Humans
Hypnosis
hypnotizability
Intelligence Tests
Internal-External Control
Male
Middle Aged
non-epileptic seizures
pseudoseizures
Psychiatric Status Rating Scales
Seizures - psychology
Somatoform Disorders - psychology
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Summary:Although literature in this area is relatively sparse, the occurrence of psychogenic non-epileptic seizures (pseudoseizures) has been linked to stress, anxiety and possible dissociative tendencies. An association between dissociation and hypnotic susceptibility has also been proposed and dissociative tendencies have themselves been found to relate to the use of emotion-focused coping strategies. In order to investigate the hypothesis that pseudoseizure patients may exhibit higher levels of dissociation, a more emotion-focused coping style, and greater hypnotic susceptibility than the general population, the questionnaire responses of 20 patients with pseudoseizures were compared with those obtained from a non-clinical control group. As predicted, pseudoseizure patients demonstrated some evidence of higher levels of dissociation and escape-avoidance coping strategies. They also expressed a greater belief in external control over health and higher depression scores, compared to the control group, but the previously reported elevation in hypnotizability scores in the pseudoseizure patients was not found. Possible explanations for this pattern of results are discussed.
ISSN:1059-1311
1532-2688
DOI:10.1053/seiz.2000.0421