What do non-epileptic attacks look like?

There are different types of NEAs. Some people experience a number of different types of attacks. The most common type of NEA look similar to epileptic convulsions (generalised tonic clonic seizures). These NEAs involve obvious movements of arms, legs, head and trunk as well as loss of consciousness and dropping to the floor.

Some people lose control over their bladder, bite their tongue or injure themselves. Other NEAs involve less obvious stiffening or tremors.

In the third common type of NEA, people go blank or stare. They may not move at all, or only move a little. These attacks resemble epileptic "complex partial seizures".

Most people appear unconscious in NEAD, although they may show signs of being able to react to their environment to some extent (such as turning to speech, making gestures or other movements with a degree of purpose). Some may be able to talk whilst having an attack and follow commands. Some NEAs can be very short lasting only a few seconds, whilst some can be very long, sometimes lasting for hours at a time.

There are subtle differences between non-epileptic attacks and epileptic attacks. These are not always present in all attacks, and some people may experience some symptoms of epileptic attacks even though their seizures are NEAs. The main differences are:

Symptom	Epilepsy	NEAs
Duration	0.5 to 2 minutes	Often longer than 2 minutes
Pelvic thrusting	rare	Occasional
Eyes / mouth	Typically open	Often closed
Side-to-side head movement	Rare	More common
Tongue biting	Occasional	Occasional
Crying during the attack	Rare	More common
Talking during the attack	Rare	More common

To find out what it feels like to experience a NEA, click here.