Am J Psychiatry 1976; 133:1395-1398
Copyright © 1976 by American Psychiatric Association
Delinquency, psychomotor epileptic symptoms and paranoid ideation: a triad
DO Lewis
In a retrospective chart-review study, the author found psychomotor
epileptic symptoms in 6% (N=18) of children referred to a juvenile court
over a 2-year period. Abnormalities appeared in 11 of the 14 available
EEGs, but temporal lobe foci were noted in only 3 cases. Of these 18
children, 16 experienced paranoid symptoms that led to aggressive behavior.
The incidence of offenses against persons was 50% in this sample, compared
to 2--3% in the population of children referred to the juvenile court. The
author suggests that psychomotor epilepsy may be far more common among
delinquent children than has been reported previously and should therefore
be included in the differential diagnosis of court-referred children.
