Epilepsy and its main psychiatric comorbidities in adults and children

Abstract

Psychiatric disorders seem to be more frequent in patients with epilepsy (PWE) than the general population. Although researchers have documented a strong association between epilepsy and psychiatric comorbidities, the nature of this relationship is poorly understood. According to this, psychiatric diseases are often underdiagnosed and undertreated in PWE with further decrease of the quality of life of patients. The aim of the review was to examine the most frequent psychiatric comorbidities in adults with epilepsy (AWE) and the main psychiatric comorbidities in children with epilepsy (CWE) in order to better understand the relationship between epilepsy and the development of psychiatric disorders.

Keywords: Anxiety; Depression; Epilepsy; Psychiatric comorbidities; Stress; Suicide.