Effects of antiepileptic medications on psychiatric and behavioral comorbidities in children and adolescents with epilepsy

Epilepsy Behav. 2004 Oct:5 Suppl 3:S25-32. doi: 10.1016/j.yebeh.2004.06.013.

Abstract

The three goals of this article are (1) to delineate the limitations in determining the actual incidence of antiepileptic drug (AED) psychiatric and behavioral side effects; (2) to summarize existing data on the direct effects of AEDs on psychiatric and behavioral comorbidities and examine the relationship between these direct effects and specific AED mechanisms of action; and (3) to recognize the indirect effects of AEDs on psychiatric and behavioral medications that can result in aggravation of these comorbidities through drug-drug interactions. All of these data are then combined and formatted into a practical algorithm useful in many clinical situations.

Publication types

  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Anticonvulsants / therapeutic use*
  • Behavioral Symptoms / drug therapy
  • Behavioral Symptoms / epidemiology*
  • Child
  • Child, Preschool
  • Comorbidity*
  • Epilepsy / drug therapy
  • Epilepsy / epidemiology
  • Humans
  • Mental Disorders / drug therapy
  • Mental Disorders / epidemiology*

Substances

  • Anticonvulsants