6 research outputs found
Depression in Epilepsy: Mechanisms and Therapeutic Approach
In patients with epilepsy, mood disorders represent a frequent psychiatric
comorbidity but they often remain unrecognized and untreated. However, comorbid
depression may have a major impact on the quality of life of patients with
epilepsy, sometimes even more than the seizures. Among the potential
neurobiological and psychosocial determinants, epilepsy-related variables (age
at onset of seizures, temporal lobe epilepsy and frequency of seizures) and the
antiepileptic drug treatment have been associated with depression. Nonetheless,
data on treatment strategies are still limited with a lack of controlled trials
on the use of antidepressant drugs. Moreover, the issue of psychotropic drug
treatment of depression in epilepsy is interlinked with that of worsening
seizures. This paper is aimed at discussing all these subjects in the light of
current literature on the neurobiology of depression in epilepsy