Independent information guide — not a medical service.
Functional-seizure care and safety
Reach the right safety context without diagnosing the event.
What a functional seizure is
Functional or dissociative seizures are involuntary episodes that can change movement, responsiveness, awareness, sensation or experience. They are not produced by the epileptic electrical activity that defines epileptic seizures.
What to do next: Use the term recorded by the diagnosing clinician; older records may say PNES or NEAD.
Important limit: No observed feature, duration, witness description or video lets this website label an individual event functional or epileptic.
Sources and review information
Status: Owner released - source checked
Evidence check: Mapped to checked master-register claims
Jurisdiction: UK
Last checked: Check the linked live source
Prepared by: Project editorial team
Owner release date: 2026-07-22
Independent review: Not independently reviewed
Corrections: Use the site correction route without including personal health information.
ILAE FDS terminology proposal — Hingray C, Popkirov S, Kozlowska K, et al. Functional/dissociative seizures: Proposal for a new diagnostic label and definition by the ILAE task force. Epilepsia. 2025;66(11):4162-4182.
AAN functional-seizure guideline — Tolchin B, Goldstein LH, Reuber M, et al. Management of Functional Seizures Practice Guideline Executive Summary: Report of the AAN Guidelines Subcommittee. Neurology. 2026;106:e214466.
AAN clinician summary — American Academy of Neurology. Management of Functional Seizures: Clinician Summary. Practice guideline; December 2025.
Seizure semiology meta-analysis — Muthusamy S, Seneviratne U, Ding C, Phan TG. Using semiology to classify epileptic seizures vs psychogenic nonepileptic seizures: a meta-analysis. Neurol Clin Pract. 2022;12(3):234-247.
Advice for a familiar, diagnosed event with an agreed plan is different from advice for a first, new, changed, uncertain or medically worrying seizure-like event.
What to do next: If this is not clearly the familiar event covered by the plan, use the usual NHS urgent or emergency service.
Important limit: This choice helps you find the right information. It is not an automated medical assessment.
Sources and review information
Status: Owner released - source checked
Evidence check: Mapped to checked master-register claims
Jurisdiction: UK
Last checked: Check the linked live source
Prepared by: Project editorial team
Owner release date: 2026-07-22
Independent review: Not independently reviewed
Corrections: Use the site correction route without including personal health information.
NICE NG217 epilepsy diagnosis — National Institute for Health and Care Excellence. Epilepsies in children, young people and adults: diagnosis and assessment (NG217). Updated 30 January 2025.
NICE FND quality statement — National Institute for Health and Care Excellence. Quality statement 5: Functional neurological disorders in adults (QS198). 2021.
NHS GGC FDS self-management — NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde. Dissociative Seizures: Self Management and the Wellness Toolbox. Version 2; reviewed 30 May 2025.
During a familiar event covered by an agreed plan
Supporters can remain calm, reduce unnecessary stimulation, move nearby hazards and protect the person from immediate injury when this can be done safely.
Do not restrain or hold the person down.
Do not put objects or fingers in the mouth.
Do not offer food or drink until the person has fully recovered.
Use calm, respectful communication and follow the person's recorded preferences for speech, touch, space and privacy.
Avoid humiliation, painful stimulation and accusations of faking.
What to do next: Follow the person's clinician-agreed plan and observe for anything different or concerning.
Important limit: These points do not override emergency assessment for a first, changed, injured, uncertain or medically concerning event.
Sources and review information
Status: Owner released - source checked
Evidence check: Mapped to checked master-register claims
Jurisdiction: UK
Last checked: Check the linked live source
Prepared by: Project editorial team
Owner release date: 2026-07-22
Independent review: Not independently reviewed
Corrections: Use the site correction route without including personal health information.
NHS GGC FDS self-management — NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde. Dissociative Seizures: Self Management and the Wellness Toolbox. Version 2; reviewed 30 May 2025.
Epilepsy Society FDS first aid — Epilepsy Society. Non-epileptic (functional/dissociative) seizures. Page metadata updated 30 April 2026; visible clinical-content note updated October 2025 and review due October 2027.
Exploratory low-intervention study — Kyrgyzbay G, et al. Low-intervention care and duration of functional seizures: an exploratory study. Seizure. 2026;139:118-123.
Iatrogenic harm in FND — McLoughlin C, et al. Iatrogenic harm in functional neurological disorder. Brain. 2025;148(1):27-38.
AAN clinician summary — American Academy of Neurology. Management of Functional Seizures: Clinician Summary. Practice guideline; December 2025.
NHS GGC FDS FAQ — NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde. Dissociative Seizures: Frequently Asked Questions. Version 2; reviewed 30 May 2025.
AAN functional-seizure guideline — Tolchin B, Goldstein LH, Reuber M, et al. Management of Functional Seizures Practice Guideline Executive Summary: Report of the AAN Guidelines Subcommittee. Neurology. 2026;106:e214466.
After a familiar event
A plan can record the person's usual recovery and person-led supports. New, markedly different or medically concerning recovery needs assessment.
What to do next: Compare recovery with the person's own usual pattern, not a universal recovery time.
Important limit: Do not force sitting up, activity, breathing exercises or distraction. The website does not publish a universal functional-seizure ambulance timer.
Sources and review information
Status: Owner released - source checked
Evidence check: Mapped to checked master-register claims
Jurisdiction: UK
Last checked: Check the linked live source
Prepared by: Project editorial team
Owner release date: 2026-07-22
Independent review: Not independently reviewed
Corrections: Use the site correction route without including personal health information.
NHS GGC FDS self-management — NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde. Dissociative Seizures: Self Management and the Wellness Toolbox. Version 2; reviewed 30 May 2025.
NICE FND quality statement — National Institute for Health and Care Excellence. Quality statement 5: Functional neurological disorders in adults (QS198). 2021.
NHS GGC FDS FAQ — NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde. Dissociative Seizures: Frequently Asked Questions. Version 2; reviewed 30 May 2025.
NICE NG217 acute epilepsy care — National Institute for Health and Care Excellence. Epilepsies in children, young people and adults (NG217): treating status epilepticus, repeated or cluster seizures, and prolonged seizures. Updated 30 January 2025.
Functional-seizure duration review — Xue Q, Reuber M. Seizure duration in functional/dissociative seizures: measurement, variability and diagnostic significance. Seizure. 2026;139:170-181.
When urgent or emergency help may be needed
A first seizure-like event needs medical assessment. Serious injury, breathing difficulty after the event, repeated events without the expected recovery, or a recovery that is very different and worrying also take priority over the familiar-event plan.
What to do next: Call 999 when the current NHS emergency criteria apply.
Important limit: A five-minute epilepsy status threshold must not be copied into a functional-seizure pathway as a diagnostic rule or universal functional-seizure timer.
Sources and review information
Status: Owner released - source checked
Evidence check: Mapped to checked master-register claims
Jurisdiction: UK
Last checked: Check the linked live source
Prepared by: Project editorial team
Owner release date: 2026-07-22
Independent review: Not independently reviewed
Corrections: Use the site correction route without including personal health information.
NICE NG217 epilepsy diagnosis — National Institute for Health and Care Excellence. Epilepsies in children, young people and adults: diagnosis and assessment (NG217). Updated 30 January 2025.
NHS GGC FDS self-management — NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde. Dissociative Seizures: Self Management and the Wellness Toolbox. Version 2; reviewed 30 May 2025.
NICE FND quality statement — National Institute for Health and Care Excellence. Quality statement 5: Functional neurological disorders in adults (QS198). 2021.
NHS GGC FDS FAQ — NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde. Dissociative Seizures: Frequently Asked Questions. Version 2; reviewed 30 May 2025.
NICE NG217 acute epilepsy care — National Institute for Health and Care Excellence. Epilepsies in children, young people and adults (NG217): treating status epilepticus, repeated or cluster seizures, and prolonged seizures. Updated 30 January 2025.
Functional-seizure duration review — Xue Q, Reuber M. Seizure duration in functional/dissociative seizures: measurement, variability and diagnostic significance. Seizure. 2026;139:170-181.
Make a personal plan together
A useful plan describes each familiar event, possible warnings, awareness, communication preferences, immediate safety, usual recovery, agreed exceptions and when the plan will be reviewed.
Local working draft: what you type stays only in this open page. The site does not save or send it, and reloading clears it.
Not an emergency plan: use this sheet to prepare for a conversation with the relevant clinician. It becomes an agreed plan only through that clinical discussion.
Use your browser’s print command to print this working sheet or save it as a PDF. Print another copy for a different usual event type.
What to do next: Draft it with the person, then review it with the relevant clinician.
Important limit: A plan drafted on this website is not a clinician-written emergency plan.
Sources and review information
Status: Owner released - source checked
Evidence check: Mapped to checked master-register claims
Jurisdiction: UK
Last checked: Check the linked live source
Prepared by: Project editorial team
Owner release date: 2026-07-22
Independent review: Not independently reviewed
Corrections: Use the site correction route without including personal health information.
AAN clinician summary — American Academy of Neurology. Management of Functional Seizures: Clinician Summary. Practice guideline; December 2025.
AAN functional-seizure guideline — Tolchin B, Goldstein LH, Reuber M, et al. Management of Functional Seizures Practice Guideline Executive Summary: Report of the AAN Guidelines Subcommittee. Neurology. 2026;106:e214466.
Acute seizure action-plan recommendations — Penovich P, Glauser T, Becker D, et al. Recommendations for development of acute seizure action plans (ASAPs) from an expert panel. Epilepsy Behav. 2021;123:108264.
NHS GGC FDS self-management — NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde. Dissociative Seizures: Self Management and the Wellness Toolbox. Version 2; reviewed 30 May 2025.
NHS GGC FDS FAQ — NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde. Dissociative Seizures: Frequently Asked Questions. Version 2; reviewed 30 May 2025.
Epilepsy and functional seizures coexist — Kutlubaev MA, Xu Y, Hackett ML, Stone J. Dual diagnosis of epilepsy and psychogenic nonepileptic seizures: systematic review and meta-analysis. Epilepsy Behav. 2018;89:70-78.
Epilepsy and medicines need separate instructions
A person can have both functional seizures and epilepsy. Rescue medicine must only be used for the condition and event type in the clinician-written plan. Antiseizure medicines do not treat functional seizures themselves, though they may be prescribed for another reason.
What to do next: Ask which event type and condition each medicine or rescue instruction is for.
Important limit: The website provides no doses and no start, stop or taper instructions.
Sources and review information
Status: Owner released - source checked
Evidence check: Mapped to checked master-register claims
Jurisdiction: UK
Last checked: Check the linked live source
Prepared by: Project editorial team
Owner release date: 2026-07-22
Independent review: Not independently reviewed
Corrections: Use the site correction route without including personal health information.
Epilepsy and functional seizures coexist — Kutlubaev MA, Xu Y, Hackett ML, Stone J. Dual diagnosis of epilepsy and psychogenic nonepileptic seizures: systematic review and meta-analysis. Epilepsy Behav. 2018;89:70-78.
AAN functional-seizure guideline — Tolchin B, Goldstein LH, Reuber M, et al. Management of Functional Seizures Practice Guideline Executive Summary: Report of the AAN Guidelines Subcommittee. Neurology. 2026;106:e214466.
AAN clinician summary — American Academy of Neurology. Management of Functional Seizures: Clinician Summary. Practice guideline; December 2025.
NICE NG217 acute epilepsy care — National Institute for Health and Care Excellence. Epilepsies in children, young people and adults (NG217): treating status epilepticus, repeated or cluster seizures, and prolonged seizures. Updated 30 January 2025.
Read more from a specialist source
A specialist functional-seizure resource can explain the condition and self-management in more detail. Keep the person’s own clinical plan in front of general information.
PIF TICK quality criteria — Patient Information Forum. PIF TICK criteria at a glance. Reviewed October 2024.
Open Referral UK standard — Government Digital Service. Record and share information about public services in local authorities: Open Referral UK. Updated 29 January 2026.