Amina CHENTOUF

Although several studies have documented a strong association between epilepsy and some psychiatric comorbidities, either before or after the diagnosis of epilepsy, depression and other disorders remain under diagnosed and undertreated in People With Epilepsy (PWE) [1].

According to epidemiological data, 25-48% of PWE suffer from mood disorders, and 14-31% from anxiety [2]. Moreover, depression represents one of the most common psychiatric disorders in PWE, with a point prevalence ranging from 12-37% in community settings [3]. In clinical studies, depressive symptoms in epilepsy have been associated with several variables such as poor seizure control, duration of epilepsy, having complex partial seizures or temporal lobe epilepsy, unemployment and the use of antiepileptic polytherapy.

Recent reports have suggested a bidirectional relationship between epilepsy and depression [4]. Both conditions are episodic and may involve common pathogenic mechanisms. Indeed, epilepsy can lead to depression through its specific psychosocial consequences such as poor patient acceptance of his epilepsy, stigma and anticipatory anxiety associated with the unpredictable occurrence of seizures. On the other hand, Depressive symptoms in epilepsy impair patients’ health-related Quality Of Life (QOL) and may affect the clinical course of epilepsy.