Can Functional Neurological Disorder Cause Seizures?
- Alissa Black
- May 17
- 8 min read
Updated: Jun 6
Yes. The short answer is yes, Functional Neurological Disorder causes many types of seizures. Enjoy this excerpt from my upcoming book, FND Recovery Guide: Seven Evidence-Based Steps to Heal Functional Neurological Disorder (Volume 1).
9.6 Common Symptoms – A Comprehensive Overview of FND’s Impact on Body and Mind
Complete List of FND Symptoms
While my experience with Functional Neurological Disorder (FND) was severe, I recognize that FND manifests in many different ways. Some individuals experience symptoms I didn’t face, such as chronic pain. To create a comprehensive list of FND symptoms, I reached out to the broader FND community. In January 2025, I polled my Facebook support group, “Facing FND – It’s real! (functional neurological disorder support group),” which at the time had just over 600 members. I encouraged people to share their symptoms without worrying about perfect wording. I used ChatGPT to reword their responses and eliminate duplicates, making it easier for those already dealing with cognitive difficulties.
For the most complete list possible, I also added in my own symptoms as well as symptoms shown in other research. Here is the compiled list of symptoms, formatted for ease of reading. You can also visit our group, where the raw data from this poll is available, and feel free to add your own symptoms there as well.
Fluctuating Symptom Severity:
While not a specific “symptom,” the unpredictable nature of FND is a hallmark of the condition. Symptoms can fluctuate in intensity or change from day to day. This variability is important for setting patient expectations and helping clarify the clinical picture.
Additionally, there are a few key patterns to note:
Symptoms are often localized to one side of the body.
Almost all symptoms occur intermittently, meaning they come and go rather than being constant.
Many symptoms are interconnected and can occur in a specific order or progression.
Now let’s dive in to the specifics.
Seizures and Tremors
Seizures are a common symptom in Functional Neurological Disorder (FND), but understanding them can be confusing due to the variety of terms and types. To make things easier to grasp, let’s break it down into three simple concepts:
Shaking vs. No Shaking: Some seizures involve shaking or tremors, while others don’t. You might see someone physically tremble or jerk, but in other cases, the seizure could look like a loss of awareness without any visible shaking.
Awareness of the Seizure: In some types of seizures, the person experiencing them may be fully aware of what’s happening, while in others, they may have no memory of the event at all.
Non-Epileptic: The most important thing to know is that all of these seizures in FND are non-epileptic. That means, unlike epileptic seizures, they don’t involve abnormal electrical activity in the brain. They still affect the body in similar ways, but they stem from a different cause.
Once you understand these three points, the many different types of FND seizures start to make more sense. Now, let’s dive into the specific types, though you don’t need to memorize every term—just keep in mind that they all share these core features.
Here are the various types of seizures commonly experienced by people with FND:
Non-Epileptic Seizures (NES)
These seizures are often mistaken for epileptic seizures due to symptoms like shaking or jerking. However, they are not triggered by the electrical disturbances typically found in epilepsy. Instead, they reflect a breakdown in how the body and brain interact, without the abnormal brain activity seen in epileptic seizures (Devinsky, 2011).
Dissociative Seizures
A dissociative seizure can be particularly disorienting. During these episodes, an individual may experience a profound sense of detachment from their own body or the world around them. There’s no shaking involved, but the person may lose touch with reality, as though they’re watching themselves from a distance. These moments can be confusing, frightening, and deeply isolating for both the person experiencing them and their loved ones (Pick et al., 2016; Eaves, 2024; Schmutz, 2013).
Functional Seizures
This umbrella term covers a range of non-epileptic seizures. Symptoms can include shaking, jerking, or even a complete loss of motor control. They are often triggered by emotional stress, traumatic experiences, or physical exertion. The unpredictability of these seizures can make daily life feel like an emotional roller coaster, and they are frequently misunderstood by those unfamiliar with FND (Duque et al., 2023; Asadi-Pooya et al., 2020; Asadi-Pooya et al., 2023).
Functional Impaired Awareness Seizures (FIAD)
During FIAD, a person may lose awareness of their surroundings and even have no memory of the episode once it’s over. The person may continue moving around during the seizure, but their actions are automatic, as if on autopilot. For those of you who experience this, the lack of memory afterward can be unsettling, leaving us feeling disconnected from our own bodies. I have never experienced such an episode — at least I don’t think I have. 😂
Functional Tremors
One of the more visible symptoms of FND, functional tremors often appear as involuntary shaking, but without the abnormal brain activity seen in conditions like Parkinson’s disease. For me, it was my right forearm and hand that would uncontrollably flap like a fish—what some would call a “princess wave.” This tremor, though localized, can be deeply disorienting and, for many with FND, it’s often confined to one side of the body. I’ve found several others who share the same experience, and it’s a symptom that warrants more research.
Myoclonic Seizures
Myoclonic seizures involve sudden, involuntary jerks or twitches of a muscle or group of muscles. These can happen without warning and are not caused by the electrical activity typically seen in epileptic myoclonus. Though brief, they can be deeply unsettling, especially when they occur in rapid succession (Striano & Belcastro, 2012; Nijsen et al., 2010).
Panic-like Seizures
While panic attacks are often thought of as psychological events, in FND, panic-like seizures are neurological in origin. These seizures can involve shortness of breath, dizziness, heart palpitations, and a sense of impending doom, much like a panic attack. However, these symptoms are not triggered by psychological stress, but by an underlying neurological dysfunction that mimics the signs of a panic attack without the typical emotional triggers (Hallett et al., 2022). This could explain why I often felt like I was having a panic attack when I had nothing to panic about. My body was just overloaded.
Conclusion
Living with FND seizures is like being trapped in a body that betrays you, where each seizure feels like a new wave of confusion and fear. And yet, through understanding and awareness, there is hope. The more we talk about these symptoms—whether tremors, dissociation, or myoclonic jerks—the more we can shine a light on a disorder that has long been misunderstood. I can say from personal experience that healing is possible. It’s not easy, and it’s not quick, but it is possible.
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