Cognition-induced epilepsy associated with specific emotional precipitants

A 32-year-old woman with primary generalized epilepsy described absence events precipitated by talking about childhood sexual abuse, her epilepsy, or her father's difficulties with schizophrenia. She was referred for assessment of suspected psychogenic nonepileptic events. During simultaneous video/EEG monitoring, 30 absence seizures were recorded, 28 of which occurred while discussing one of these three specific precipitants. No nonepileptic events were seen. This finding highlights the importance of thorough investigation of ambiguous events, and confirms that specific emotional precipitants can induce seizures in susceptible people with epilepsy.