Following diagnosis of psychogenic nonepileptic seizures, patients who received three educational group therapy sessions were significantly less likely to return to the emergency department three months later than were those who were immediately referred to mental health services.
SAN DIEGO—Patients who have been newly diagnosed with psychogenic nonepileptic seizures probably benefit from counseling and group therapy sessions before being referred to psychiatrists for treatment of their underlying mental health problem. That’s what researchers from the Baylor College of Medicine in Houston found when they compared outcomes for 16 patients immediately referred to mental health services following diagnosis—the standard practice—with 19 others who first had three educational group sessions where they learned about their condition and shared coping strategies.
Following their sessions, support group patients were more likely than were control group patients to agree that “my attacks do not really bother me or affect my life that much anymore” and that “I have some control over my attacks.” Perhaps most tellingly, patients in the treatment group were significantly less likely to return to the emergency department three months later (7% vs. 22%).
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