An Overview of Psychological Factors in Epilepsy

Epilepsy is one of the main illnesses of the human nervous system. People with epilepsy are exposed to a set of psychological disorders. Psychological factors play a crucial role in aggravating or healing of epilepsy. The first step in treatment of epilepsy is drug treatments. Most psycho-behavioral therapies aim at improving psychological well-being and seizure control. Behavioral approaches, cognitive-behavioral therapy, mind-body interventions, and acceptance and commitment therapy are the most widely applied approaches for treatment of epilepsy. The psycho-social difficulties, such as negative public attitude toward epilepsy and problems in stigma, family relationship, quality of life, marriage, and personality traits (e.g., stress, anxiety, depression, cognitive processing, and theory of mind), are commonly associated with epilepsy. These points alongside with the key role of psychological treatments with conventional treatment are discussed.
Epileptic patients are tending to have more psychological problems. This emphasizes the necessity for psychological treatment along with drug therapy.