Emotional and Psychological Factors in Epilepsy

Two cases are presented to illustrate the importance of emotional and psychological factors in epilepsy. Attention is directed to the personality changes that arise as a reaction to seizures. It is noted that emotional stress may act as a precipitant to individual seizures. Finally, it is pointed out that elements from past experience, of particular emotional significance, may be incorporated into the clinical pattern of seizures that arise from a discharging lesion in the temporal lobe of the brain.