Renarins Fits

[Ascended]

First post. Couldn't find info on my question. Was wondering about Renarin's fits and if he was hearing spren screaming each time. They seem to have coincided in his youth practicing with shard blades. 

[Lightspine]

Renarin genuinely has epilepsy. Very light spoilers for Oathbringer, but we have his viewpoint a few times and his description of the fits doesn't involve spren screaming.
If you're thinking of his "fit" in the dueling grounds during Adolin's match, that was quite possibly caused by the spren screams but most of his fits don't seem to be related to it.

[Subvisual Haze]

On 8/17/2018 at 0:12 PM, Ascended said:

First post. Couldn't find info on my question. Was wondering about Renarin's fits and if he was hearing spren screaming each time. They seem to have coincided in his youth practicing with shard blades. 

It's difficult to say exactly.  I think Renarin has been having 3 separate things occur causing him to "freeze up":

1. Simple partial seizure - diagnosis is pretty straightforward as Renarin mentions unilateral muscle spasms (partial), remaining conscious throughout, and that it can last upwards to several minutes (not absence type).  Renarin might hide the truth sometimes, but he doesn't seem the type to flat out make up lies like that when describing his condition to Kaladin, so I suspect as least some of his "freezing" episodes have been seizures.
2. Hearing the screaming dead spren when holding a shardblade
3. Having a vision of the future (via Glys)

All 3 of these would look the same to outside observer watching Renarin.  While I think #2 is a pretty recent phenomena, I suspect #3 might have been occuring longer than we've suspected though.  Even the first scene we see with Renarin in Way of Kings (when he freezes in battle against chasmfiend), I think his freezing there might have been a vision of the future, rather than an epileptic event.