Alterations of consciousness are central to diagnosing epilepsy, and some patients report unusual experiences during seizures that might resemble spontaneous mystical states. This study used a validated Mysticism Scale to assess such experiences in 98 epilepsy patients, 86 of whom had EEG recordings. Fifty-five percent recalled some subjective experience during seizures, but none met criteria for a mystical experience. While some features, especially those of introvertive mysticism, were reported, they were not linked to any specific brain lobe or hemisphere. Mysticism Scale scores showed no significant association with demographics, medical history, seizure risk factors, or seizure characteristics.
Out-of-body experiences are rare but real sensations reported by some people with epilepsy during seizures. In a group of 100 patients, 55% recalled some subjective experience with their seizures, and 7 reported out-of-body experiences. No demographic, medical, or seizure-related traits distinguished those who had out-of-body experiences from those who did not. These experiences did not affect epilepsy-related quality of life. Even among those who reported them, out-of-body sensations were extremely infrequent, often occurring only once or twice many years ago, making it impossible to link them to specific seizure characteristics or medications.