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Personality Disorders Among Medically Refractory Epileptic Patients

Received September 10, 1998; revised May 20, 1999; accepted April 20, 1999. From the Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences and the Department of Neurology, Neuropsychiatric Institute and Hospital, UCLA School of Medicine, Los Angeles, California. Address reprint requests to Dr. Lopez-Rodriguez, Department of Psychiatry, Neuropsychiatric Institute and Hospital, UCLA School of Medicine, 740 Westwood Plaza, Los Angeles, CA 90024.

DSM-III-R personality disorders were assessed in 52 medically refractory epileptic patients. Twenty-one percent of patients met threshold criteria for an Axis II disorder. Dependent and avoidant personality disorders were the most common diagnoses. Epileptic aura was positively correlated with the presence of personality disorders. These results support previous studies that have demonstrated an increased rate of dependency and social isolation in epileptic patients. This increase may be related to disrupted psychosocial functioning as a consequence of having epilepsy, to disrupted neuronal function in central nervous system structures as a consequence of repeated epileptiform discharge or to some combination of the two.

Key Words: Epilepsy • Personality Disorders • Aura

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				M. Mula, A. Cavanna, L. Collimedaglia, D. Barbagli, E. Magli, and F. Monaco The Role of Aura in Psychopathology and Dissociative Experiences in Epilepsy J Neuropsychiatry Clin Neurosci, November 1, 2006; 18(4): 536 - 542. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

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