“Anxiety induced partial seizures”
I am 60+, afflicted with MTLE, diagnosed in my early 20s when I had my first full seizure. I also have history with partial seizures: a history with auras resulting in complete seizures and similar auras that do not.
When I was about 10 years old, when I played baseball I struggled with what I can best describe as anxiety induced visual disturbances. When I would advance on the ball to make a play from the outfield, I became very anxious that everyone was watching me (they were), and I would experience optical and perceptual illusions while attempting to field the ball: the scene in front of me would visually move in stop motion, and I had the illusion that there was something interfering with my efforts to smoothly control my fielding movements (dream world, running while bogged down in sand, unable to sync up with visual world, ...). This only happened during official game play, never during practice.
Was I having a partial seizure? Did MTLE play a role in my experience? If not, was my experience common? Any explanations?
When I was about 10 years old, when I played baseball I struggled with what I can best describe as anxiety induced visual disturbances. When I would advance on the ball to make a play from the outfield, I became very anxious that everyone was watching me (they were), and I would experience optical and perceptual illusions while attempting to field the ball: the scene in front of me would visually move in stop motion, and I had the illusion that there was something interfering with my efforts to smoothly control my fielding movements (dream world, running while bogged down in sand, unable to sync up with visual world, ...). This only happened during official game play, never during practice.
Was I having a partial seizure? Did MTLE play a role in my experience? If not, was my experience common? Any explanations?
Male | 10 years old
1 Answer
Neurologist
The episodes you describe are more closely associated with Temporal lobe epilepsy ( auras) than anxiety per se. So your MTLE may have been implicated. Anxiety can be considered but less likely. I hope that those episodes have long ago subsided; If not talk to your Neurologist to assess if you are having some seizures. Good luck.
