Patient: My son is 13 years old, he was in a coma for 3 days before New Year’s Eve, the doctor diagnosed him with viral encephalitis, he was discharged after 13 days of hospitalization. I can’t believe it because I used to wake up suddenly with night terrors when I was sleeping, but what is the difference between sleep disorder and epilepsy? Can epilepsy be diagnosed by EEG? Do night terrors also have EEG abnormalities? I had a sleep EEG with abnormal sleep EEG, and the doctor diagnosed epilepsy. Now I am taking lamotrigine. Or is it night terrors or other sleep disorders? Lab and test results: Sleep EEG when awake: Basic electrical activity in the posterior part of both hemispheres is 9-10Hz alpha wave rhythm and some theta and delta waves. Some sharp waves and sharp-slow waves are issued with paroxysms on both sides, which are obvious in both anterior parts. During sleep: sleep physiological waves are visible on both sides. Some sharp waves and sharp slow waves issuing on both sides, with the left side winning. Dr. Zhou: According to your symptom description, combined with the waking and sleeping EEG: both have some sharp waves and sharp slow waves (epileptic discharge), the clinical diagnosis should be considered as epilepsy. People with night terrors or other sleep disorders will not show epileptic discharges on the EEG. Patient: Does the EEG show which kind of epilepsy he belongs to (benign)? Because he has never had a seizure before, and he does not have the usual seizure symptoms such as convulsions and foaming at the mouth, and he is living and studying normally during the day (as before). Is it curable? What else should I pay attention to in general? What should I do? Dr. Zhou: Epilepsy is a group of chronic diseases with temporary central nervous system malfunction caused by abnormal brain neuron discharges that occur repeatedly, and there is no difference between benign and malignant. The most common symptoms are convulsions, foaming at the mouth, and generalized grand mal seizures. This is the most common type of generalized grand mal seizure. Whether or not the seizure will occur during the day varies from patient to patient. If the patient is properly treated, the effect is often manageable or even curable, but the treatment needs to be reviewed without interruption, and the doctor will determine the next step based on the patient’s performance and some tests. You should be careful not to overexert yourself, avoid using your brain and eyes excessively; you should not eat excessively spicy food and other stimuli; moderate exercise and a happy mood is beneficial. Good luck to heal!