Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-dk4vv Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-31T15:20:38.301Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Epilepsy and Violence

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

C. G. Hindler
C. G. Hindler*
Affiliation:
The Maudsley Hospital, Denmark Hill, London SE5 8AF; formerly Royal Free Hospital, Pond Street, Hampstead, London NW3 2QG
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Epileptic automatism and violence are seldom found among temporal lobe epileptics. The case of a 19-year-old girl who killed a 20-month-old child during an epileptic attack is described, and the literature and medico-legal issues are briefly reviewed.

Type
Brief Reports
Information
The British Journal of Psychiatry , Volume 155 , Issue 2 , August 1989 , pp. 246 - 249
Copyright
Copyright © Royal College of Psychiatrists, 1989 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

British Medical Journal (1973) Defence of automatism (medico-legal news and notes). British Medical Journal, ii, 314–315.Google Scholar
British Medical Journal (1983) Insanity at law (medico-legal report). British Medical Journal, 287, 694–695.Google Scholar
Delgado-Escueta, A. V., Mattson, R. H., King, L., et al (1981) Special report: the nature of aggression during epileptic seizures. New England Journal of Medicine, 305, 711–716.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Eastman, G. N. (1986) Psychiatric aspects of insanity and automatism In Psychiatry and the Criminal Process (eds Mackay R. & Russell K.), pp. 15–25. Leicester: Polytechnic Law School Monograph.Google Scholar
Fenton, G. W. (1972) Epilepsy and automatism. British Journal of Hospital Medicine, January, 57–64.Google Scholar
Fenwick, P. (1986) Aggression and epilepsy In Aspects of Epilepsy and Psychiatry (eds Trimble M. R. & Bolwig T. G.), pp. 31–60. Chichester: John Wiley and Sons.Google Scholar
Gunn, J. (1978) Epileptic homicide: a case report. British Journal of Psychiatry, 132, 510–513.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gunn, J. & Bonn, J. (1971) Criminality and violence in epileptic prisoners. British Journal of Psychiatry, 118, 337–343.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gunn, J. & Fenton, G. L. (1971) Epilepsy, automatisms and crime. Lancet, i, 1173–1176.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
King, D. W. & Ajmone Marsan, C. (1977) Clinical features and ictal patterns in epileptic patients with EEG temporal lobe foci. Annals of Neurology, 2, 138–147.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Knox, S. J. (1968) Epileptic automatism and violence. Medicine, Science and the Law, 8, 96–104.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lishman, W. A. (1987) Organic Psychiatry. Oxford: Blackwell Scientific Publications.Google Scholar
Prins, H. (1986) Dangerous Behaviour, the Law and Mental Disorder. London: Tavistock Publications.Google Scholar
Rodin, E. A. (1973) Psychomotor epilepsy and aggressive behaviour. Archives of General Psychiatry, 28, 210–213.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Treiman, D. M. (1986) Epilepsy and violence: medical and legal issues. Epilepsia, 27 (suppl. 2), 77–104.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Walker, N. (1968) Crime and Insanity in England, vol. 1. The Historical Perspective. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.Google Scholar
Submit a response

eLetters

No eLetters have been published for this article.