ktbuttons
New
- Messages
- 21
- Reaction score
- 0
- Points
- 0
after reading some articles about what some doctors call the "epileptic personality" it just made me wonder. do you guys agree or disagree with this?!
i'm not allowed to post links since i'm new so i'll just copy & paste some stuff that i found interesting in this article..
"Through the 20th century, many writings in the field of psychiatry referred to "the epileptic personality," an interictal syndrome thought to include explosive impulsivity, affective viscosity (the tendency to prolong interactions with others), and egocentricity (overriding concern with the self). Some thought that this syndrome was the result of underlying neurologic factors, but others felt that these personality traits represented a distinct form of epilepsy in themselves. At the time, it was felt that intensive psychoanalytic therapy was the most appropriate treatment for this condition.
More recently, Dr. Norman Geschwind introduced the characteristics of the "interictal personality disorder" to the neurological community. He felt that a number of specific personality characteristics were frequently seen in patients with temporal lobe epilepsy and that they were characteristic of such patients. These traits included deepened emotions, circumstantial thought (overly detailed, with delay in getting to the point), increasing concern with philosophical or religious beliefs, and a change in sexual behavior. Dr. Geschwind and a colleague published these observations in a major journal in 1975.(1)
Bear and Fedio(2) extended Geschwind's observations to include a total of 18 behavioral features:
Emotionality
Mania
Depression
Guilt
Humorlessness
Altered sexual interest
Aggression
Anger and hostility
Hypergraphia (excessive writing)
Religiosity
Philosophical interest
Sense of personal destiny
Hypermoralism
Dependency
Paranoia
Obsessionalism
Circumstantiality
Viscosity"
it seems a bit ridiculous to generalize such a large group of people..
but personally, i have MANY of those personality traits they talked about. i mean, it could totally just be a coincidence that i do, but most of them didn't start showing up until AFTER the seizures really started. just makes me think. do you guys notice these traits in yourself or others you know with epilepsy? or do you just find these to be common personality traits.. just a coincidence?
i thought it'd be cool to hear everyone's thoughts on the topic!
op:
-katie
i'm not allowed to post links since i'm new so i'll just copy & paste some stuff that i found interesting in this article..
"Through the 20th century, many writings in the field of psychiatry referred to "the epileptic personality," an interictal syndrome thought to include explosive impulsivity, affective viscosity (the tendency to prolong interactions with others), and egocentricity (overriding concern with the self). Some thought that this syndrome was the result of underlying neurologic factors, but others felt that these personality traits represented a distinct form of epilepsy in themselves. At the time, it was felt that intensive psychoanalytic therapy was the most appropriate treatment for this condition.
More recently, Dr. Norman Geschwind introduced the characteristics of the "interictal personality disorder" to the neurological community. He felt that a number of specific personality characteristics were frequently seen in patients with temporal lobe epilepsy and that they were characteristic of such patients. These traits included deepened emotions, circumstantial thought (overly detailed, with delay in getting to the point), increasing concern with philosophical or religious beliefs, and a change in sexual behavior. Dr. Geschwind and a colleague published these observations in a major journal in 1975.(1)
Bear and Fedio(2) extended Geschwind's observations to include a total of 18 behavioral features:
Emotionality
Mania
Depression
Guilt
Humorlessness
Altered sexual interest
Aggression
Anger and hostility
Hypergraphia (excessive writing)
Religiosity
Philosophical interest
Sense of personal destiny
Hypermoralism
Dependency
Paranoia
Obsessionalism
Circumstantiality
Viscosity"
it seems a bit ridiculous to generalize such a large group of people..
but personally, i have MANY of those personality traits they talked about. i mean, it could totally just be a coincidence that i do, but most of them didn't start showing up until AFTER the seizures really started. just makes me think. do you guys notice these traits in yourself or others you know with epilepsy? or do you just find these to be common personality traits.. just a coincidence?
i thought it'd be cool to hear everyone's thoughts on the topic!
op:
-katie