ABSTRACT

It has been found that pain response is higher in patients with depression and anxiety and also found higher in the patients with psychogenic non-epileptic seizures (PNES). However, these studies are limited in number and they are mainly focused on the chronic pain perception. We aimed to investigate anxiety and depression levels and the perception of acute pain along with childhood traumas among the patients with PNES.

In our study, a total of 100 gender- and age-matched patients with PNES and 50 healthy controls were included in the study. The beck depression inventory (BDI), the beck anxiety inventory (BAI), and the childhood trauma questionnaire-28 were applied to all the participants. Pain perception was also evaluated by applying gradually increasing pressure with tension cuff while the participants were in a seated position. While the tension was about 180 mmHg, the participants were asked to evaluate their pain using the visual analog scale (VAS).

The major findings of our study are as follows: (i) The BDI and BAI scores were significantly higher in the PNES group than in the control group; (ii) VAS scores were significantly higher in the PNES group than in the control group; and (iii) among the PNES group, BAI scores were correlated with VAS scores.

PNES is experienced by a heterogeneous patient group, and its underlying factors are still not well described. Depression and anxiety are common accompanying factors, and the pain response is higher in patients with PNES with high anxiety levels.

Keywords: Anxiety, depression, pain perception, psychogenic non-epileptic seizures