EP. 5 Envisioning the Future of Epilepsy Care for Patients With Depressive Symptoms

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A 2025 multi-site study published in Epilepsy & Behavior aimed to examine depressive symptoms in children and youth with epilepsy (CYE) who completed measures of emotional and behavioral functioning as part of a pre-surgical neuropsychological evaluation. All told, results revealed that CYE are at a higher risk of experiencing depressive symptoms, especially those with temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE). Findings also indicated that other seizure and sociodemographic variables did not increase risk or resilience, calling for depression screening during routine epilepsy care, including for those CYE with low IQ.

To further understand the clinical relevance of these results, NeurologyLive® facilitated a discussion with 3 study authors: Shannon Brothers, PhD, Cortney Wolfe-Christensen, PhD, and Janelle Wagner, PhD. Brothers is a pediatric epilepsy psychologist at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, Wagner is a pediatric psychologist at Medical University of South Carolina, and Wolfe-Christensen is a pediatric psychologist at Children’s Medical Center in Fort Worth, Texas. Throughout the roundtable, each clinician provided insight regarding the recent publication and its clinical implications.

In the final segment, the three experts weighed in on the need to reimagine epilepsy care by integrating behavioral health services directly into epilepsy clinics to better identify and address depressive symptoms. They noted that depression is highly prevalent among patients with epilepsy and often unrecognized, despite evidence suggesting that treating mood symptoms may also improve seizure control. The speakers also highlighted that embedding psychologists and behavioral health clinicians within epilepsy centers could reduce stigma, improve access to care, and enable earlier intervention, especially for children and adolescents, where timely treatment may have long-term implications for quality of life.

REFERENCES
1. Brothers S., Wolfe-Christensen C., Loblein H., et al. Depressive symptoms in youth with refractory epilepsy: Exploration of seizure, sociodemographic and cognitive factors. Epilepsy & Behavior. 2025;Volume 171:110608. DOI: 10.1016/j.yebeh.2025.110608