Seizures are symptoms of abnormal brain activity.  They can be traumatic events and cause injury.  It's important to know the signs of a seizure, to get a proper diagnosis of your seizure even though that diagnosis unjustifiably carries some stigma.

Because there are many different types of seizure and symptoms, epilepsy can be a difficult condition to diagnose. It is important for a doctor to know what type of seizure a person has in order to determine the most suitable course of treatment.

Not all seizures are epileptic seizures.  In fact, epilepsy centers across the nation report that 30% of people referred to them have non-epileptic attacks -- events that look like seizures but are not caused by abnormal brain activity.

The kind of seizure a person has depends on where in the brain the seizure starts and where it spreads. The most common seizure types are classified as either partial or generalized seizures.

When seizures appear to result from abnormal activity in just one part of the brain, they're called partial seizures. When seizures seem to involve most or all of the brain, the seizures are called generalized. Both classifications are broken up further into smaller, more specific categories.

Partial seizure types:

• Simple partial seizures. These seizures begin from a small area in your brain and don't result in loss of consciousness or of awareness. They may cause uncontrolled shaking of an arm, leg, or other parts of your body. They may also alter your emotions, change the way things look, smell, feel, taste, or sound, or cause a disturbance in your speech.
• Complex partial seizures. These seizures also begin from a small area of your brain. They alter awareness and usually cause memory loss (amnesia). Complex partial seizures can cause staring and unusual movements, such as repeated hand rubbing, lip smacking, posturing of your arm, vocalization or swallowing. After the seizure ends, you may be confused or sleep for a few minutes, and you may be unaware you had a seizure.
• Secondary generalized seizures (partial seizures with secondary generalization). These seizures occur when simple or complex seizures spread to involve your entire brain. They may begin as a complex partial seizure with staring and unusual movements. The seizure then becomes more intense, leading to generalized convulsions characterized by stiffening and shaking of your extremities and loss of consciousness.

Generalized seizure types:

• Tonic-clonic (grand mal seizures). The most intense of all types of seizures, these are characterized by a loss of consciousness, body stiffening and shaking, and sometimes tongue biting or loss of bladder control. After the shaking subsides, a period of confusion or sleepiness usually sets in, lasting for a few minutes to a few hours.
• Absence (petit mal seizures). These seizures are characterized by staring, subtle body movements, and brief lapses of awareness. They occur most often in children.  This type of seizure is usually brief. Typically no confusion or sleepiness occurs when the seizure is over.
• Myoclonic seizures. These seizures usually appear as sudden jerks of your arms and legs. Myoclonic seizures may last only a short time, from less than a second for single jerks to a few seconds for repeated jerks.
• Atonic seizures. Also known as drop attacks, these seizures cause you to suddenly collapse or fall down. After a few seconds, you regain consciousness and are able to stand and walk.