Affective convulsions - really scary
Some parents have asked for the topic of "child affect convulsions". No problem. Here is the most important thing you need to know.
Medically, these cramps are not a problem. But they can be absolutely terrifying for parents - especially when they occur for the first time. Affect spasms can occur from the age of one, peaking at around the age of two, half of the children who suffer from them no longer have them from the age of four and they have almost all disappeared by the time they start school.
What happens during an emotional spasm? A child gets so upset, gets so worked up about something that it either starts to turn blue or pale - and then actually faints. Often the child also twitches and convulses. Sounds very dramatic. But it is almost always harmless. The children quickly regain consciousness. And if it is clear that the trigger was an emotion, there is no need to worry from a medical point of view.
Examples: shock, pain, anger, fear ... Specifically: A large dog comes round the corner, the child struggles to breathe in fear and falls over. Or the child bumps into something very hard, is in pain, struggles to breathe and loses consciousness.
Medically, there are a few differential diagnoses that need to be looked at, namely genuine seizures or causes coming from the heart. But these are cases that certainly cannot be dealt with briefly here. To be on the safe side that your child is suffering from the harmless variant, you should definitely discuss the whole thing with your paediatrician. It will then quickly become clear whether further investigations are necessary.
The message is: it does exist and it is actually harmless. This will hopefully prevent not only the child from fainting, but also the parents from being frightened.
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