CROSS-SECTIONAL STUDY OF PSYCHIATRIC MORBIDITY AMONG EPILEPSY PATIENTS

Abstract

Epilepsy is a chronic disorder manifest by recurrent, often erratic seizures which may be disconcerting and troublesome to the normal commotion of daily living. There is scant data on psychiatric morbidities like depression, anxiety, psychosis, quality of life, cognitive decline and sexual dysfunction in people living with seizure from low- and middle-income nations. And in India there is very little data available among psychiatric morbidities and seizure disorders. Irrespective of the socioeconomic states and gender discrepancies all ages of epilepsy patients suffer from psychiatric morbidity. Prevailing family circumstances also do not give much importance for the rising psychiatric morbidity among epilepsy patients. There are huge chances of not addressing their psychiatric issues when they are taking the antiepileptic 's for a long time and drugs being collected by their attenders from a very long distance. When psychiatric issues are not addressed adequately, the morbidity of these patients may increase and this may interfere with the epilepsy treatment adherence. Moreover, both epilepsy and psychiatric comorbidity can have signicant negative impact on disability, quality of life and economic productivity, Stigma and suicide. Discrimination of epileptic patients should be urgently addressed in all workplace. Early recognition and treatment of psychiatric morbidities by involving Psychiatrists as a member of the EPILEPSY TEAM may lead to a better outcome.