Epilepsy and Depression Subscribe to our newsletter. Depression is a common experience for many people in the general population and for people with epilepsy, but it occurs more often in those who have epilepsy.
Most people feel sad at some time in their life and the depth of sadness varies.
The difference between sadness and depression is not clear but, at some point, when sadness is prolonged and impairs a person s ability to enjoy life, there is a problem. Depression causes feelings such as sadness, helplessness, hopelessness and the inability to experience happiness. In persons with epilepsy, depression can be a psychological reaction to having the disorder or of being treated differently because of this. It can also be caused by the side effects of medication such as some barbiturates. The depression associated with barbiturates such as phenobarbital and primidone is often dose-related, which means that the higher the dose of the drug, the greater the risk of depression.