These seizures used to be called petit mal, which roughly translated means small illness. This name makes them sound fairly harmless and, for many, they are little more than an occasional nuisance. However, then they occur frequently they can make life very confusing. During an absence seizure it can appear to onlookers that the person is daydreaming or switching off, something we all do when we are bored or distracted. Absence seizures are rare in adults, most commonly beginning in childhood, particularly between the ages of six and twelve.
Girls are more prone to absences than boys.
Most children will respond to anti-epileptic drug treatment, often being able to stop the treatment after a few years. Like many generalised seizures, doctors can rarely say why a child develops absences, although between 25 and 40 per cent of children with absences have relatives who have experienced similar seizures. Because most children tend to daydream or wander off into a world of their own, absences can be very hard to spot. Parents and teachers tend to lose patience with children unless it becomes obvious that something more serious is happening. In the worst cases, children can be having hundreds of very brief absence seizures a day, effectively preventing them learning and participating in school or family activities.