Expert: Effectively Treating Functional Seizures May Help to Treat Other Comorbid Psychiatric Conditions

Contemporary Clinic® interviewed Lea Davis, PhD, an associate professor of medicine in the Department of Medicine at Vanderbilt University Medical Center and an investigator in the Vanderbilt Genetics Institute, on a recent study she co-authored that was published in JAMA Network Open on the epidemiology of functional seizures among adults treated at a university hospital.

Alana Hippensteele: Could understanding and treating functional seizures also help to potentially support the treatment process for other comorbid conditions as well?

Lea Davis: I think that's a great question, and I think that that is absolutely the hope. I think that certainly people who are dealing with PTSD, anxiety disorders, depression—to have this added burden of the functional seizure condition, where seizures can come on at any point and can be incredibly disruptive—to be able to get the seizures under control, that alone would really improve the quality of life, and I think also open some doors for being able to treat the other comorbid psychiatric conditions as well.