NP - Ecstatic Seizures

[David Morris]

http://www.mindhacks.com/blog/2009/04/a_trance_of_pleasure.html

A 2003 study in Epilepsy and Behavior has some descriptions of the
ecstatic seizures experienced by some patients with epilepsy.

They include intense erotic and spiritual experiences, feelings of
become close to and blending with other people, and some sensations
that couldn't be fully captured in words.

I've put some of the descriptions below because they sound absolutely wonderful:

Patient 1
The first seizure occurred during a concert when he was a teenager. He
remembers perceiving short moments of an indefinable feeling. Such
episodes recurred and a few months later evolved into a GTC
[generalized tonic–clonic seizure]. He characterizes these sensations
as “a trance of pleasure.” “It is like an emotional wave striking me
again and again. I feel compelled to obey a sort of phenomenon. These
sensations are outside the spectrum of what I ever have experienced
outside a seizure.” He also describes cold shivering, increased muscle
tension, and a delicious taste, and he swallows repeatedly. He enjoys
the sensations and is absorbed in them in a way that he can barely
hear when spoken to. When in a particular, relaxed mood, he can
sometimes induce seizures by “opening up mentally” and contracting
muscles. He denies any religious aspects of the symptoms. “It’s the
phenomenon, the feeling, the fit taking control.” It lasts a few
minutes and afterward he is tired with difficulties expressing himself
for about 1 hour.

Patient 6
This man has a multifaceted symptomatology and a tendency to interpret
bodily sensations as supernatural phenomena. Nevertheless, from the
beginning of his forties, he experienced distinct, stereotypical
attacks with a “change of concept of the surrounding world.” He
reports an “oscillating erotic sensation, like twinkling polar light”
in his pelvic region and down the inside of his thighs. This is
described as different from sexual excitement, more like “an erogenous
charge of the skin.” He may also have a clairvoyant feeling of a
“telepathic contact with a divine power.” These sensations are of
short duration and may be accompanied by faintness and followed by
drowsiness. With carbamazepine treatment, the frequency of these
attacks has been considerably reduced.