What Causes Non-Epileptic Seizures & What are its Natural Remedies?

Non-epileptic seizures, also known as dissociative seizures, are the paroxysmal events which do not involve any disrupted electrical activity in the brain. It is very different from an epileptic attack in the cause but might resemble them outwardly. These seizures are real, and the people who get them do not have any voluntary control over them.

Unlike the epileptic seizures, the non-epileptic seizures are not caused by any physical disorder of the brain. Non-epileptic seizures are caused due to traumatic psychological conditions (psychogenic non-epileptic seizures).

Some of the causes of non-epileptic seizures are extreme emotional stress due to an accident or illness, end of a relationship, abuse, grief, mental pain, being bullied, or any other condition which triggers stress. The seizures are the physical manifestation of a trauma which the patient cannot speak out.

Non-epileptic seizures are more common in people with depression or anxiety.

The symptoms of non-epileptic seizures are often similar to the epileptic seizures. They include,

• Convulsion
• Falling down
• Stiffening
• Loss of consciousness
• Loss of bladder control
• Jerky, rhythmic or twitching motions
• Biting of tongue
• Confusion
• Altered senses
• Repetitive Motions

People suffering from non-epileptic seizures are often told they cannot be treated with medication, but there are many things which they can do to control seizures and their life.

#1. Sensory Grounding: If you are the one who gets the signal that you might get an attack soon, sensory grounding could be a useful natural remedy. There are various ways to practice it,

• Focus on the things around you and try and describe them to yourself. This might help divert your mind.
• Feel something rough and textured from your fingers and focus on what it feels like. Feel the ground with your feet and imagine how solid it feels.
• Listen to the sounds around you e.g. Chirping of birds, people talking or the traffic noise.
• Remind yourself about where you are, what day of the week it is, what year it is, etc.
• Tell yourself you are safe.

#2. Relaxation: Non-epileptic seizures arise when you are stressed or tensed. The relaxation therapy would be of great help in this case. There are various relaxation CD’s available which can help you relax the tense muscles naturally. Just listening to your favorite music and giving your mind some time to unwind can work as an effective natural remedy for non-epileptic seizures.

#3. Abdominal Breathing: During a non-epileptic seizure many people suffer from hyperventilation i.e. difficult, quick, and shallow breathing. Abdominal breathing can be an effective natural remedy to help control the breathing and calm you down. It can be practiced anywhere, or if you feel you are going into a seizure, or when you stressed or anxious.

Sit comfortably and place one hand on the abdomen. Slowly breathe in through the nose and feel the stomach expand beneath your hand. Pause and then breathe out. Rest for a moment and begin again.

#4. Understand Your Triggers: Understanding the triggers of your seizures is very important. Make a note of what happened, where were you, what you were doing, what were you watching, when the seizure started. This way you could understand the trigger which previously you were unaware of.

#5. Don’t be Overcautious: Being overcautious might increase the frequency of your illness. Never look for problems, instead search the solution. Many people after getting an attack, stop their normal activities. They stop going out, using buses, meeting people and stay in the house most of the time fearing an attack again. This way they are likely to get more bored, lonely, depressed, and frustrated leading to depression and an increase in the stress levels.

Find out ways to tackle the problem medically as well as naturally. Don’t put life on a hold. Plan an outing with a friend, do fun and interesting things, plan things to look forward to. This way you will feel refreshed and the level of stress and anxiety will go down. There will also be a decrease in the frequency of seizures.

#6. Talk About Your Feelings: Bottling up feeling and not letting them out in bits can lead to an uncontrollable and an outrageous outburst or a non-epileptic attack. Talking about the difficult feelings and emotions as discussing them with the near and dear ones can help deal with them naturally.

These natural remedies and techniques might take some time to get used to, but keep practising, as they can prove to be of great help in improving the quality of life and reducing the non-epileptic seizures.

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Also Read:

• Natural Ways to Control Non-Epileptic Seizures