Violent Automatism in a Partial Complex Seizure

Ashford, J. Wesson; Schulz, S. Charles; Walsh, Gregory O.

doi:10.1001/archneur.1980.00500510078020

Cited by 22 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 24 publications

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“…Together with previous studies made by epileptologists (1-3), our study contradicts the persistent view that there is a positive relation between postictal confusion and violence. These studies and ours reveal that, except for resistive violence (8), acts of well-directed violence are scarcely committed during such automatisms.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 63%

Violence and Epilepsy: A Close Relation Between Violence and Postictal Psychosis

1999

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Summary: Purpose:We investigated the incidence of welldirected violent behavior and suicide attempts in patients with temporal lobe epilepsy, with special attention to postictal psychosis.Methods: We compared 57 episodes of postictal psychosis with 62 episodes of acute interictal (or alternative) psychosis and with 134 complex partial seizures. All patients were matched for age and for age at onset of seizures.Results: The incidence of well-directed violent behavior against human beings was significantly higher (23%) duringFor the last several decades, epileptologists have so successfully fought against the view that epilepsy is closely related to aggressive and self-destructive impulses that they have almost succeeded in dismissing this old view (1-3). While investigating postictal psychosis, however, we noticed several sporadic episodes of abrupt violent behavior. We assumed that this behavior could be explained, not by the old theories linking epilepsy in general with such aggression, but by an incomplete differentiation of postictal psychosis from postictal confusion and by a longstanding neglect of postictal psychosis. Indeed, even Treiman (I), who argued that most cases of allegedly ictal aggression were a result of artifacts of gross observations, admitted that violence does occur in postictal psychosis. However, Treiman postulated that such aggression was not fundamentally dissimilar from the aggressive behavior seen in other patients who exhibited psychotic episodes attributable to other causes. This study was designed to examine our impression that violence is one of the outstanding features of postictal psychosis.Accepted June 9, 1998. Address correspondence and reprint requests to Dr. K. Kanemoto at Utano National Hospital, Ukyo-ku, Narutaki, Ontoyama-cho 8, Kyoto, Japan.postictal psychotic episodes than during acute interictal episodes (5%) and postictal confusion (1 %). Suicide attempts were also more frequent during postictal psychosis (7%) than during either acute interictal psychosis (2%) or postictal confusion Conclusions: Our study showed that well-directed violent and self-destructive behavior was not a feature of epileptic psychosis in general but a specific hallmark of postictal psychosis.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 63%

Violence and Epilepsy: A Close Relation Between Violence and Postictal Psychosis

1999

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“…Some agents are known to lower the convulsive threshold in patients: they include lithium carbonate, sympathomimetic agents, and most of the antipsychotics (Dallos & Heathfield, 1969;Kalra & Cooper, 1968;Klein& Gittleman, 1980). Our patient presented a clinical picture ofpsychomotorstatus-like episode under haloperidol treatment, characterised by the typical three phases (Belafsky & Boxley, 1978;Ashford& Schulz, 1980;Hecker,1972). Positive EEG findingsmight add to the establishment of the diagnosis, but lack of them is not an obstacle, because partial epilepsy is a clinical syndrome (Delgado Escueta, 1979) whose first phase lasts less than ten seconds and is characterised by staring, total unrespon siveness, and an appearance of stereotyped automa tiSm.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 78%

Case Report: Psychomotor Status-like Episodes under Haloperidol Treatment

Kaminer

Munitz

1984

Br J Psychiatry

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Generalized and partial seizures induced by antipsychotic agents are well documented in the medical literature, but these patients generally do not present a management problem. The incidence of this phenomenon is less than 1% in both psychiatric and general medical population (Malcolm, 1972); we came upon only one report of a psychomotor status-like episode due to iatrogenic drug effect in the relevant literature (Kuschke, 1972). According to Gastaut's (1970) classification of epileptic seizures, the general term for psychomotor status is partial seizures with complex symptoms.

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“…This example can also help us understand some reasons for the radically different 19th‐century representation of epilepsy. It is not accidental that the theories of epileptic personality flourish either overtly or in a disguised form even today (see e.g., Ashford et al, 1980; Aycicegi‐Dinn et al, 2008; Devinsky & Lai, 2008; Eisenschenk et al, 2014; Every‐Palmer & Norris, 2013; Grant et al, 2013; Gunn, 1978; Ito et al, 2007; Kanemoto et al, 1999; Marsh & Krauss, 2000; Oueslati et al, 2018; Pandya et al, 2013; Persinger et al, 2011; Tittensor et al, 2008; Waxman & Geschwind, 1974, 1975). The fact that these theories have survived is due to specific and identifiable reasons, which can be illuminated by the following example.…”

Section: Epilepsy and The Born Criminalmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Further features of epileptic personality—such as hypergraphia—are often discussed in modern epilepsy research (Hermann et al, 1983; Kalamangalam, 2009; Sanders & Mathews, 1994). It seems that the supposition that epilepsy, especially temporal lobe epilepsy, is linked to several specific personality traits still influences research questions and theoretical frames in neurology and neuropsychology (Ashford et al, 1980; Aycicegi‐Dinn et al, 2008; Denton & Tellez‐Zenteno, 2020; Eisenschenk et al, 2014; Every‐Palmer & Norris, 2013; Granqvist et al, 2005; Grant et al, 2013; Gunn, 1978; Ito et al, 2007; Kanemoto et al, 1999; Marsh & Krauss, 2000; Oueslati et al, 2018; Pandya et al, 2013; Tittensor et al, 2008; Treiman, 1999). Recent findings and trends in biosocial criminology also contribute to this debate (DeLisi, 2013).…”

Section: Epilepsy and Crime Today: The International Scenementioning

confidence: 99%

Epilepsy, violence, and crime. A historical analysis

Gyimesi

2021

J History Behavioral Science

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In the 19th and early 20th century, epilepsy was one of the most investigated disorders in forensic psychiatry and psychology. The possible subsidiary symptoms of epilepsy (such as temporal confusion, alterations of consciousness, or increased aggression) played pivotal roles in early forensic and criminal psychological theories that aimed to underscore the problematic medical, social and legal status of epileptic criminals. These criminals were considered extremely violent and capable of committing sudden, brutal acts. Although the theory of "epileptic criminality" was refuted due to 20th-century developments in medicine, forensic psychiatry, and criminal psychology, some suppositions related to the concept of epileptic personality have lingered. This paper explores the lasting influence of the theory of epileptic personality by examining the evolution of the theories of epileptic criminality both in the international and the Hungarian context. Specifically, it calls attention to the twentieth-century revival of the theory of epileptic personality in the works of Leopold Szondi, István Benedek and Norman Geschwind. The paper shows that the issue of epileptic personality still lingers in neuropsychology. In doing so, biological reductionist trends in medical-psychological thinking are traced, and attention is drawn to questions that arise due to changing cultural and medical representations.

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Violent Automatism in a Partial Complex Seizure

Cited by 22 publications

References 24 publications

Violence and Epilepsy: A Close Relation Between Violence and Postictal Psychosis

Violence and Epilepsy: A Close Relation Between Violence and Postictal Psychosis

Case Report: Psychomotor Status-like Episodes under Haloperidol Treatment

Epilepsy, violence, and crime. A historical analysis

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