Epilepsy is a disease in which you can have seizures that cause you to shake uncontrollably, including losing consciousness. It is important that bystanders put someone in a stable position during such a seizure so that the person cannot choke on their own mucus. During an epileptic seizure, it is almost impossible to breathe, which is why a seizure can be very dangerous to the health of your brain. It can even be deadly.
In this article, I discuss what epilepsy is and what support hypnosis can provide to treatment.
What is epilepsy?
Epilepsy is a neurological disease whose main symptom is the epileptic seizure. If you are standing you fall over during such an epileptic seizure and start shaking uncontrollably. I described in the introduction that an epileptic seizure is dangerous because it makes it very difficult to breathe, but that is not the only danger. Because you fall, you can land unhappily which can cause you to break something.
For example, I know someone who landed nastily on the opened dishwasher and broke his jaw as a result. Of course, this could have ended much worse. Fortunately, this person very rarely has an epileptic seizure, averaging once every 3 years, but there are also people who have monthly, weekly, daily and even several times a day epileptic seizures.
Such an epileptic seizure occurs when the cortex of your brain suddenly has abnormal activity. This is the outer layer of your brain. This can also explain why you suddenly start shaking uncontrollably, because your brain then transmits that signal to the muscles.
Also, this part of the brain is responsible for your consciousness. So when that part stops functioning properly, it is not surprising that you temporarily lose consciousness, which is a hallmark of an epileptic seizure.
The causes of epilepsy
Epilepsy can have multiple causes. In rare cases, for example, people have a genetic predisposition to epilepsy. But usually the cause is found in trauma to the brain, a stroke, brain tumor, brain infection or due to an abnormality during birth. Such an abnormality may already occur during fetal development and thus need not be caused by a difficult birth.
In some cases, you can also have a seizure due to excessive drinking, electrolyte deficiency, but that doesn't mean you have epilepsy.
In fact, if you have epilepsy, you can simply have an epileptic seizure without any prior warning or obvious cause.
It's actually very strange but you have to imagine that you are just having a conversation with someone and suddenly they fall over and start shaking violently. You then have no idea why that suddenly happens and even though we would like to see a cause-effect relationship it really isn't because of anything you said. There is increasing evidence, though, that stress, lack of sleep and drinking alcohol in people with epilepsy makes them more likely to have a seizure.
Only 6% of people with epilepsy have a cause, such as flickering lights and sudden noises. In that case, it is also referred to as reflex epilepsy.
If someone near you has an epileptic seizure, that is not the time to panic, but to lay them on their side and place a pillow or something else soft under their head. Anything in the environment that the person can hurt themselves on should be put away.
Treating epilepsy
If it has been ruled out that you acquired epilepsy due to electrolyte deficiency or alcohol abuse, epilepsy is generally treated with daily medication. This works in 70% of people with epilepsy (2).
If it doesn't work, surgery can still be done, often removing tumors if they are the cause or even parts of the brain. Sometimes a neurological stimulus is also given to get everything working as it should again.
Diet modification can also be used. In fact, a ketogenic diet reduces seizures in 30-40% of children with epilepsy. This involves eating lots of fat, protein and vegetables, but very few carbohydrates and sugars.
Avoiding triggers, such as bright lights, is also a way to reduce the number of epileptic seizures. You can then get special glasses for this purpose.
Supporting epilepsy treatment with hypnosis
Hypnosis can support epilepsy treatment in several ways. First, already during the diagnosis of epilepsy. After all, a seizure can occur even if you don't have epilepsy. Hypnosis can help find out whether you were still somewhat conscious during such a seizure or not at all (3). In the case of total unconsciousness, there really is epilepsy.
Scientific research shows that it is as reliable as an EEG scan.
Hypnosis can help reduce seizures
Hypnosis can also help reduce seizures in multiple ways. A scientific study of people who did not respond to medication found that aromatherapy combined with hypnotherapy had the best effect in reducing seizures.
In this study (1), 100 people participated, eager to take advantage of the opportunity to test it. After two years, there was a follow-up on how much effect the treatment had had. The treatment consisted of therapy with scents and hypnosis every two weeks. If after six treatments there was no improvement, after three months, the treatment stopped. Otherwise, it continued as usual.
This study found that out of 100 people, 38 had not had an epileptic seizure after 1 year and 31 had had at least half as many seizures as normal. For 25 people, aromatherapy and aromatherapy had had no effect.
The reason this effect can be achieved is because aromatherapy and hypnotherapy help reduce stress. Stress can be a cause of an epileptic seizure. Hypnotherapy can also improve sleep. A lack of sleep can cause an epileptic seizure. So improving this again lowers the chances.
Indirect symptoms due to epilepsy
Epilepsy can also create stigma. For example, people may be afraid to hire someone with epilepsy because of fear of accidents in the workplace. Or people have all kinds of superstitions about people with epilepsy. This can cause you to develop other symptoms such as depression. Of course, it's no fun to be rejected because of something you can't do anything about and which may not even lead to problems because you have the right medication.
Hynotherapy can help you get tools to deal with these problems differently so that you don't suffer from depressive feelings, or at least suffer less.
If you have gone wrong once, you may also suffer from anxiety and also because of the social environment that may react incorrectly to it. Hypnotherapy is often used to reduce anxiety.
Some people with epilepsy also suffer from obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) in that it provides a sense of control. This can eventually get in the way of your life quite a bit. There are treatments for OCD as well, such as cognitive behavioral therapy enhanced by hypnosis.
In addition, epilepsy can also make you suffer from migraines and ADHD.
Using self-hypnosis alongside hypnotherapy generally enhances the effects of hypnotherapy.
Having stress treated for epilepsy
An epileptic seizure does not yet have a clear identifiable reason but there are signs that stress, lack of sleep and alcohol consumption in people with epilepsy can increase the likelihood of a seizure. Flickering lights also do this to a portion of people with epilepsy.
As I mentioned, stress is a major factor that can cause epilepsy. This doesn't just have to be stress at work. Stress from your personal life can also cause you to have an epileptic seizure. While checking moments when you suffer from such a seizure, you can find very strange reasons. For example, there is a case known to me of someone who suffered such a seizure every time he moved in with his (new) girlfriend after a few weeks.
In 70 percent of people with epilepsy, seizures can be suppressed with medication. The other 30 percent may benefit from an aroma with hypnosis therapy. This can help because it reduces stress and can improve sleep.
In addition, hypnotherapy can be a solution for indirect effects of epilepsy, such as depression, anxiety and OCD.
Want to learn more about hypnotherapy? Then be sure to check out the Hypnosis Institute Netherlands' courses.
Sources:
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1059131103001614
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21206438
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1528-1157.1999.tb00745.x/abstract
