Misdiagnoses of Epilepsy as Ekbom Syndrome, Mood Instability,and Nocturnal Visual Hallucinations

Epileptic seizures may be misdiagnosed if they manifest as psychiatric symptoms. We report three female patients with nopreexisting history of epilepsy that were unsuccessfully treated as primary psychiatric disorder: one patient was initially diagnosedwith somatization and Ekbom syndrome; the second was referred to psychiatrist due to mood instability and visual hallucinations;and the third one was referred for anxiety and hallucinations related to sleep. A carefully taken medical history clarified diagnoses ofepilepsy. None of the patients responded to medications aimed at treating psychiatric symptoms, and all the patients had favorableresponse to antiepileptic treatment. These cases illustrate that epileptic patients may experience nonconvulsive seizures that mightbe misdiagnosed as primary psychiatric disorder.