Dissociation and Seizures

[Heir2theThorn]

Has anyone had experience with BP/NP family members either being diagnosed with epilepsy, having seizures, and/or dissociating in a way that resembles seizures? 

All of my immediate family members either dissociate, have seizures, or both.  I always thought it was just epilepsy, and that epilepsy must run in families, but then I read that it's not very hereditery.  I also read that there are several dual-purpose drugs that act both as anti-convulsants and mood stabilizers.  So now I'm wondering if maybe some, or all, of my family members' "epileptic seizures", both grand-mal and absences, are actually dissociation.  And what they think are anti-epileptic drugs preventing seizures, are actually mood stabilizers preventing dissociation?

Wacky theory, I know, but thought I'd put it out there.  Family members are: Dad (NP traits, possible unNPD, epileptic), Mom (BP traits, diagnosed Dissociative Disorder and Depression), Sister (unBPD, epileptic), Brother (no BP/NP traits that I see, but prone to depression and epileptic).

[losthero]

They might be havng what is called pseudoseizures.  Primarily they are psycho-somatic seizures. They are brought on by stress /possibly a form of disassociation.  One way to tell is to do an EEG. An EEG will show if they had a true epileptic seizure or not.   You are right that several anti seizure meds are used as mood stabilizers.   They need to see what their EEG results were to be treated properly. They may know the truth and are being misleading to be manipulative. Hard to tell what is real with BPD/NPDs. 

[Notwendy]

My BPD mother doesn't have seizures, but her dissociation episodes are so intense that afterwards she doesn't really know what happened. It's as if they reset her memory. Sometimes she has a vague sense that she said or did something but a lot of it is beyond her recall.

She's at the severe end of the BPD spectrum. Sadly, I think it is her inability to recall what she say or does during a dissociation episode that makes it difficult to seek or get help. For her, it didn't happen. Then she doesn't understand why the people on the receiving end are upset. After one of her episodes, she feels just fine.