CONICET | Buscador de Institutos y Recursos Humanos

Purpose: To analyse the methods of reasoning with regard to patients? experiences of living withpsychogenic nonepileptic seizures (PNES) in Buenos Aires, Argentina.Method: A qualitative approach using semi-structured interviews was used to gain an in-depth andcontextual understanding of the perspectives offive patients with PNES. Data collection and analysiswere followed by an inductive and interpretive approach informed by the principles of thematic analysis.Results: Explanatory models and prototypes were identified from the patients? narratives. Four patientsrelated their suffering regarding psychosocial causes ?family conflicts, sexual harassment, and lifechanges, among others-. Hereditary and organic hypotheses appeared to be unspecific. Folk explanationswere common to all participants (magic, witchcraft, energetic causes). Four patients used the termepilepsy as an illness prototype, focusing on seizures and the use of antiepileptic drugs. Three of them alsocompared their illness to other people?s ?attacks? (heart attacks, panic attacks, nervous breakdown). Onlyone of them referred to someone who was suspected of having epilepsy.Conclusion: Patients? psychosocial explanatory models are different from the results of previous studiesbecause these studies indicate that most patients support somatic explanations. Patients also use folkexplanations related to traditional medicine, which highlights the interpersonal aspects of the disease.Doctor-patient communication is essential for a correct understanding of PNES, resulting in betteroutcomes. It could also help to reduce the cultural distance between professionals and patients, leadingto narrowing inequalities present in multicultural healthcare services.

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