There are two main kinds of seizures: focal (start in one part of the brain) and generalized (involve both sides of the brain from the start). Each of these has several specific subtypes with different symptoms and levels of awareness.

Big picture types

  • Focal (partial) seizures
    • Start on one side of the brain.
    • Can affect awareness, movement, sensation, or emotions, often on one side of the body.
* Can sometimes spread and become a generalized seizure.
  • Generalized seizures
    • Involve both sides of the brain from the beginning.
    • Usually cause loss of awareness and abnormal movements of the whole body.

Focal seizure types

Doctors often group focal seizures like this:

  • Focal aware seizures
    • Person stays awake and aware.
    • May have unusual sensations (dĂŠjĂ  vu, odd smells, tingling, visual changes) or small movements in one part of the body.
  • Focal impaired awareness seizures
    • Awareness is altered or “blanked out.”
    • Person may stare, speak oddly, do automatic movements (lip smacking, fiddling with clothes) and not remember it afterward.
  • Focal to bilateral tonic‑clonic seizures
    • Start as a focal seizure and then spread to both sides of the brain.
    • Often progress into a full‑body stiffening and jerking seizure.

Generalized seizure types

Common generalized seizures include:

  • Absence seizures (formerly “petit mal”)
    • Brief staring spells, usually a few seconds.
    • Person may stop talking mid‑sentence, blink rapidly, then resume as if nothing happened.
  • Tonic‑clonic seizures (formerly “grand mal”)
    • Tonic phase: body stiffens, person falls and loses consciousness.
    • Clonic phase: rhythmic jerking of the limbs; may bite tongue or lose bladder control; confusion and exhaustion afterward.
  • Tonic seizures
    • Sudden muscle stiffening, often of back, arms, and legs.
    • Can cause sudden falls.
  • Clonic seizures
    • Repeated, rhythmic jerking of muscles (often face, neck, arms).
  • Myoclonic seizures
    • Very brief “jumps” or jerks of muscles, usually both arms or legs.
    • Consciousness is usually preserved.
  • Atonic (“drop”) seizures
    • Sudden loss of muscle tone.
    • Head may nod, or the person may suddenly collapse, risking injury.

Other ways doctors classify

  • By awareness : aware vs impaired awareness.
  • By movement : motor (shaking, stiffening, falling) vs non‑motor (staring, sensory changes, emotional changes).
  • By cause : provoked (for example from fever, low blood sugar, alcohol withdrawal) vs unprovoked (epilepsy).

Important safety note

  • Any first‑time seizure, change in seizure pattern, or seizure lasting more than 5 minutes is a medical emergency and needs urgent evaluation.
  • Only a medical professional (usually a neurologist) can properly diagnose the type of seizure, often using history, EEG, and brain imaging.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.