Takeaway
Children and adolescents with psychogenic nonepileptic seizures (PNES) are at higher risk of psychiatric disorders both prior to and after PNES diagnosis, when compared to patients with epilepsy or healthy controls.
Why this matters
Diagnosis of PNES is often challenging and can be misdiagnosed as epilepsy, which can be distressing for patients and their families.
It has been established that some psychiatric disorders are common with PNES, but there have been no large-scale population studies addressing the full range and risk of psychiatric disorders in these patients.