Perceptions and History
A Brief History of Epilepsy
"It is doubtful if there is any other medical condition so universally neglected due to a combination of social stigma, low profile and lack of resources". This is from the WHO global campaign against epilepsy.
For many people, overcoming problems associated with the stigma of epilepsy is more difficult than having epilepsy. It is not a "one size fits all" problem because it affects the most complex and least understood biological system we have, the nervous system. Epilepsy can look, feel and act differently with different people and even at different times with the same individual.
Hippocrates wrote the first book on epilepsy, titled On The Sacred Disease. He spoke out against the idea it was a curse from the Gods and that people with epilepsy had the power of prophecy.
False ideas die slowly and in 1494 a hand-book on witch-hunting titled Malleus Maleficarum said that one of the ways to identify a witch was by the presence of seizures. In the early 19th century people were cared for in asylums but kept separate because it was believed epilepsy was contagious.
As late as the 1920s people were told to cover the face of a person suffering convulsions with a black silk cloth as this would stop the "fits". It was thought that a recipe of mustard and flour mixed with vinegar and applied to the lower legs would reduce blood constriction in the brain and possibly even cure the problem.
Epilepsy Myths
Myth: Epilepsy is rare.
Fact: Epilepsy is a condition of the nervous system that affects 2.5 million Americans. More than 180,000 new cases are diagnosed each year. It is one of the most common neurological conditions in the world today with no age, geographic or socio-economic limits.
Myth: Epilepsy is a mental disease.
Fact: Seizures are a disruption of the normal electrical and chemical activity in the brain. People with epilepsy have the same range of mental capacities as the general population.
Myth: People with epilepsy always lose consciousness and fall to the ground with convulsions.
Fact: A few will fall. The condition has many forms ranging from a brief loss of memory (daydreaming) to status elepticus which is a state of constant seizure.
Seizures generally will not last longer than 2 to 4 minutes with a varied display of physical reactions such as jerking or thrashing one or more parts of the body. Speech may be slurred, unclear or unusual during a seizure. People who have had a seizure may be confused just after the seizure or may be alert and ready to return to what they were doing before the event.
Myth: You can make a person "snap" out of a seizure.
Fact: There is nothing you can do to stop a seizure. The best one can do is stay with the person until they once again are aware of their surroundings. Never restrain a person with seizures unless he is in physical danger.
Myth: Only children get epilepsy.
Fact: One can get epilepsy at any age and is increasing in the older population because they are living longer lives which can expose them to more medical conditions. Seizures are often an unwelcome part of many of these medical problems.
Myth: Epilepsy can not be controlled.
Fact: While there is no known cure for the condition, prescription drugs, surgery, diet and medical devices can control seizures in 80% of persons with epilepsy.
Myth: Epilepsy is a lifelong disorder.
Fact: That which strikes out of the blue can retreat just as quickly. Children who have seizures quite often find the seizures becoming less severe or disappear altogether as they grow older.