September 1, 2026, 4:03 pm | Read time: 3 minutes
It is the most common form of epilepsy syndrome in childhood, yet it often goes unnoticed. Absences usually last only a few seconds and are therefore quickly mistaken for harmless daydreaming in children. These absences can affect school performance and self-confidence. However, the condition can be very well treated today. How parents can distinguish between a real daydream and an absence and how those affected are helped.
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How to Distinguish Absences from Daydreams
When an absence occurs, the child appears “frozen” for a few seconds. The gaze becomes fixed, the current activity stops abruptly, and the child is mentally unreachable. Sometimes slight eye twitching, brief blinking, or subtle mouth movements accompany the episode. Just as suddenly as an absence can begin, it also ends. The child resumes their activity without remembering the interruption or being confused afterward.
The key difference from normal daydreaming is that it usually arises from boredom. Additionally, the child should mentally respond to being spoken to, addressed, or gently touched. Absences, on the other hand, occur completely unpredictably and cannot be stopped by external stimuli.
What Does an Absence Feel Like for Those Affected?
To outsiders, it not only seems as if the affected person is briefly absent, they actually are. During an absence, consciousness lapses for a few seconds. Those affected are unaware of it both during the episode and immediately afterward. For them, sudden gaps in knowledge and memory simply occur. The few seconds are just missing. Anyone engaged in a conversation, listening in class, or completing a task is unaware of the episode itself. The brain resumes exactly where it left off, as if the interruption never happened.
At What Age Are People Affected?
Strictly speaking, there are two forms of absences:
- Childhood absence epilepsy usually begins in elementary school between the ages of 4 and 10. It is characterized by extremely frequent, short episodes, often dozens of times a day. In puberty, usually between ten and fourteen years, the absences predominantly resolve on their own.1
- Juvenile absence epilepsy, on the other hand, does not appear until around ages 9 to 17. Here, the absence episodes occur less frequently but are more often accompanied by additional convulsive seizures.
Causes, Symptoms and Progression of Epilepsy
When a Tic Disorder Becomes Tourette Syndrome
Diagnosing – Not Always Easy?
Detecting an absence in the treatment room is not so simple. After all, an episode cannot be triggered at the push of a button. Prof. Rainer Surges from the Epileptology Bonn explained to “WELT” that cellphone recordings by relatives are extremely helpful in documenting behavior in everyday life.2
The suspicion is then professionally confirmed in practice using an electroencephalogram (EEG). During the EEG, an absence episode can also be provoked. The child breathes deeply and quickly in and out for two to three minutes–also known as hyperventilation. This increased breathing changes the carbon dioxide content in the blood and reliably triggers an absence in affected children, which immediately shows up as a typical wave pattern on the EEG.3
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Chances of Recovery?
The chances of recovery are very good. With the help of medication, symptoms can be completely alleviated in about 40 to 80 percent of those affected. For most children, the medication therapy is so effective that they become completely seizure-free. Additionally, childhood absence epilepsy often resolves on its own with the onset of puberty, as mentioned earlier.4