Dogs may be responding to psychological seizures, not epilepsy seizures

This caught my attention today. Two new studies out on people who have a "seizure dog." Some dogs can be trained to detect seizures in advance of their occurrence, other seizure dogs stay with the person during a seizure, presumably to provide support or safety.

Fewer than half the people in the study actually had epilepsy, but instead suffered from psychological seizures. The lead investigator noted that failure to diagnose the nature of the seizures was a serious problem. Psychological seizures are not responsive to epilepsy medications, for example.

So why do people who have psychogenic seizures wind up with seizure detection dogs? How? The investigator suggested that people with psychological seizures may seek out service animals for support.

The really interesting part comes from commentary by an independent neurologist here in Seattle. Michael Doherty MD wondered if the psychological seizures could be a response to cues from the dogs. The question of how the presence of a seizure dog affects seizure activity is interesting. Is it higher or lower?

In the end, I am concerned about this because of the potential for exploitation of the dogs who "accidentally" become caregivers to people with psychiatric conditions, and then are not properly monitored and have no support for the burdens they shoulder. Certainly better screening and access to mental health services for the people are part of the answer.

Dogs may be responding to psychological seizures, not epilepsy seizures