Functional neurological disorders (FNDs), which are sometimes also referred to as psychogenic neurological disorders or conversion disorder, are common disabling neuropsychiatric disorders with limited treatment options. FNDs can present with sensory and/or motor symptoms, and, though they may mimic other neurological conditions, they are thought to occur via mechanisms other than those related to identifiable structural neuropathology and, in many cases, appear to be triggered and sustained by recognizable psychological factors. There is intriguing preliminary evidence to support the use of psychedelic‐assisted therapy in a growing number of psychiatric illnesses, including FNDs. We review the theoretical arguments for and against exploring psychedelic‐assisted therapy as a treatment for FNDs. We also provide an in‐depth discussion of prior published cases detailing the use of psychedelics for psychosomatic conditions, analyzing therapeutic outcomes from a contemporary neuroscientific vantage as informed by several recent neuroimaging studies on psychedelics and FNDs.
Objective Guidelines suggest considering antiseizure medication (ASM) discontinuation in patients with epilepsy who become seizure‐free. Little is known about how discontinuation decisions are being made in practice. We measured the frequency of, and factors associated with, discussions and decisions surrounding ASM discontinuation. Methods We performed a multicenter retrospective cohort study at the University of Michigan (UM) and two Dutch centers: Wilhelmina Children's Hospital (WCH) and Stichting Epilepsie Instellingen Nederland (SEIN). We screened all children and adults with outpatient epilepsy visits in January 2015 and included those with at least one visit during the subsequent 2 years where they were seizure‐free for at least one year. We recorded whether charts documented (1) a discussion with the patient about possible ASM discontinuation and (2) any planned attempt to discontinue at least one ASM. We conducted multilevel logistic regressions to determine factors associated with each outcome. Results We included 1058 visits from 463 patients. Of all patients who were seizure‐free at least one year, 248/463 (53%) had documentation of any discussion and 98/463 (21%) planned to discontinue at least one ASM. Corresponding frequencies for patients who were seizure‐free at least 2 years were 184/285 (65%) and 74/285 (26%). The probability of discussing or discontinuing increased with longer duration of seizure freedom. Still, even for patients who were 10 years seizure‐free, our models predicated that in only 49% of visits was a discontinuation discussion documented, and in only 16% of visits was it decided to discontinue all ASMs. Provider‐to‐provider variation explained 18% of variation in whether patients discontinued any ASM. Significance Only approximately half of patients with prolonged seizure freedom had a documented discussion about ASM discontinuation. Discontinuation was fairly rare even among low‐risk patients. Future work should further explore barriers to and facilitators of counseling and discontinuation attempts.
Objective: Guidelines suggest considering antiseizure medication (ASM) discontinuation in patients with epilepsy who become seizure-free. Little is known about how discontinuation decisions are being made in practice. We measured the frequency of, and factors associated with, discussions and decisions surrounding ASM discontinuation. Methods: We performed a multicenter retrospective cohort study at the University of Michigan (UM) and two Dutch centers: Wilhelmina Childrens Hospital (WCH) and Stichting Epilepsie Instellingen Nederland (SEIN). We screened all children and adults with outpatient epilepsy visits in January 2015 and included those with at least one visit during the subsequent two years where they were seizure-free for at least one year. We recorded whether charts documented 1) a discussion with the patient about possible ASM discontinuation and 2) any planned attempt to discontinue at least one ASM. We conducted multilevel logistic regressions to determine factors associated with each outcome. Results: We included 1,058 visits from 463 patients. Of all patients who were seizure-free at least one year, 248/463 (53%) had documentation of any discussion and 98/463 (21%) planned to discontinue at least one ASM. Corresponding frequencies for patients who were seizure-free at least two years were 184/285 (65%) and 74/285 (26%). The probability of discussing or discontinuing increased with longer duration of seizure-freedom. Still, even for patients who were ten years seizure-free, our models predicated that in only 49% of visits was a discontinuation discussion documented, and in only 16% of visits was it decided to discontinue all ASMs. Provider-to-provider variation explained 18% of variation in whether patients discontinued any ASM. Significance: Only approximately half of patients with prolonged seizure-freedom had a documented discussion about ASM discontinuation. Discontinuation was fairly rare even among low-risk patients. Future work should further explore barriers to and facilitators of counseling and discontinuation attempts.
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