There are a number of phenomenon associated with certain forms of epilepsy. These are:
-
Sensory Problems:
Sometimes there can be addition problems of perception that seem to be related to epilepsy. One of these is lack of facial recognition abilities, or faulty recognition abilities.
I have suffered from both of these intermittently. On occasion I cannot recognise a familiar face. The worst case of this, was a 4 second delay in recognising my own mother (I did as soon as she spoke). The reversal of this was a period in which I kept seeing faces (as indicated by two eyes, a mouth, and maybe a nose) in trees, power sockets, and advertisements.
It is most likely that such problems stem from some form of brain damage rather that epilepsy itself.
Depersonalisation
This is both a symptom and an illness and was first described by a French Psychiatrist in the early 1900s. It occurs in almost all the major psychiatric disorders as well as neurological conditions such as migraine and epilepsy.
'Depersonalisation Disorder' is characterised by persistent or recurrent episodes of: "... detachment or estrangement from one's self. The individual may feel like an automaton... There may be the sensation of being an outside observer on one's own mental processes... Various types of sensory anaesthesia, lack of affective response... are often present". Derealisation (the sense that the external world is strange or unreal) may also be present. (American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic)
Once again, I had bouts of this during childhood. It's extremely strange to see a pair of arms and hands in front of you, know that they are yours but feel that they're not. I sometimes wonder if this helped me become transsexual.
Orgasms
Believe it or not, the aura sensation of some people before having a seizure is orgasmic! Ecstatic epilepsy as it called, is very rare but still exists. Dostoyevski, the russian writer was said to suffer from ecstatic epilepsy. One explanation for this is that the part of the brain that has the seizure is the same part involved in sexual feeling.
Not that this in anyway outweighs having the epilepsy in the first place, but it's interesting to note that not all effects of epilepsy are unpleasant.
Visions
One of the side effects of temporal lobe epilepsy is that of having visions. People who had such visions include the science fiction writer Philip K. Dick, and one of the founders of Seventh Day Adventism, Ellen G. White. Such visions can be as clear as day and as vivid as real life. I know, because I've had them too.
They did not come often, but they did come. How did I know that they weren't real? Well, when you see a two foot rat in your bathroom, it stands to reason that it isn't real at all. Another vision of mine was two men doing a shady deal out the back of a car (trading dope or guns). I had this vision while riding my pushbike. But it was clear after a few seconds that no such car or men was in the neighbourhood.
The silliest vision I've ever had was when masturbating in the shower (frank, aren't I?). I came to the point of orgasm and saw a vision of... ...wallpaper. It was a green / gold flocked starburst pattern. I saw this clearly when my eyes were shut, on a wall stretching away from me. And I saw my hand and arm in the vision too.
What am I to make of these visions? Whatever I want. My long term response has been to follow a vocation of visual artist. As an artist, the ability to have visions is a plus, not a minus. Other people have different responses. Phillip K. Dick used his visions to help him write science fiction. For Ellen G. White they were messages from God. Who am I to say otherwise?
Out of Body Experiences
On occasion I would experience "out of body experiences" (OOBEs) while having a seizure. What happened during this was that as I was rolling on the ground, I saw an aerial view of myself on that ground. I could see anyone standing around me, and part of the environment too. I never knew what to make of this experience, and didn't know that it had a name until much later.
OOBEs may be a function of temporal lobe epilepsy, and a form of vision. However, people without epilepsy also have OOBEs, and near death experiences are also similar. Do I actually gain an independent viewpoint, or is it my mind constructing a model of the situation, and projecting the image? This last explanation would make sense, if it was a mechanism by which I was distancing myself from the experience -- a method of coping if you like.