Post-traumatic Stress Disorder in Partners of People Who Have Epilepsy

In the early access online for the journal Epilepsy and Behavior, Drs. Norup and Elklit from the Danish National Center for Psycho-traumatology at the University of Southern Denmark, present a fascinatingly interesting analysis looking at the risk of post-traumatic stress disorder in partners of people who have epilepsy. The goal of the study was to examine whether living with an individual who has epilepsy was a potentially traumatizing event and to identify predictive risk factors in developing and more importantly in managing post-traumatic stress disorder. Six hundred fourteen (614) responses completed questionnaires pertaining to trauma including the Harvard Trauma Questionnaire, the Crisis Support Scale, the Hopkins Symptoms Checklist-25, and Dyadic Adjustment Scale. Demographic characteristics were noted to identify those risk factors that might predict who develops PTSD.

The analysis showed that 7.7% of all participants fulfilled the symptom criteria of post-traumatic stress disorder and an additional 43.9% reported a subclinical level for the beginning signs of PTSD. Clinical and subclinical anxiety was seen in 9.3% of all respondents. The authors concluded that partners were at risk of PTSD when living with a patient with epilepsy. Variables that explain PTSD included the frequency and types of seizure medications, side effects from these medications, and the severity of the epilepsy and whether anxiety and depression were there to begin with. Even more importantly, a high level of social support seemed to decrease the level of post-traumatic stress.

This study is important because it highlights the holistic approach that we all should take when dealing with patients with epilepsy. It isn’t just the individual but also the partners and families and caregivers that live with those individuals that are affected as well. This study helps to point out that epilepsy has other adverse effects, some of which do not occur in the patient themselves but rather in the caregiver and other family members. This is an important study to highlight the importance of support networks and trying to care for the community that surrounds the individual with epilepsy as a whole rather than just the isolated person who has the seizures.