Positive syndrome of schizophrenia and epilepsy

Med Hypotheses. 2010 Feb;74(2):294-6. doi: 10.1016/j.mehy.2009.09.004. Epub 2009 Sep 30.

Abstract

An analysis is carried out of a set of psychic phenomena appearing always in the same way: an experience suddenly invades the consciousness, unfolding automatically and with great intensity. This psychic automatism, of which the patient is a passive observer, is accompanied by an overwhelming feeling of strangeness. Our hypothesis is that these phenomena are the expression of partial seizures with a psychic content. A comparative study is then made of the phenomenology of these partial seizures with a psychic content, on the one hand, and of that of positive syndrome of schizophrenia, on the other. It reveals a wealth of clinical information indicating an overlap between the two conditions. This inclines us to postulate of an existence of shared etiopathogenic mechanisms for both pathologies.

MeSH terms

  • Epilepsy / classification*
  • Epilepsy / psychology*
  • Humans
  • Models, Psychological*
  • Schizophrenia / classification*
  • Schizophrenic Psychology*
  • Syndrome
  • Terminology as Topic*