Are non-epileptic attacks common?

Non-epileptic attack disorder (NEAD) occurs in around 2 or 5 people in every 10,000. This means that in a typical town with around 300,000 people (such as Cardiff, Wigan or Doncaster) there will be about 60 to 150 people who have NEAs.

Of all the people who come into hospital with attacks, which do not settle quickly, nearly half turn out to have NEAs.

About 1 in 6 people newly referred to specialist blackout clinics turn out to have non-epileptic attacks.