Breaking Down Epilepsy Misconceptions

  1. There are over 40 types of seizures and over 100 syndromes connected to epileptic seizures. Not all seizures are the same. Not all are convulsive (falling/shaking), some are extremely easy to miss as they appear as though the person with epilepsy is just daydreaming.
  2. Despite ancient Romans going as far as spitting on the chests of epileptic people to avoid catching the disorder, it’s not actually contagious. You can’t catch it from somebody else, it’s either something you’re born with and it presents itself when its ready or you sustain a traumatic brain injury (TBI) through an accident or secondary disease which leads to epilepsy.
  3. Epilepsy is NOT a mental illness but a confirmed neurological condition. Electroencephalography (EEG) is a monitoring method to record electrical activity of the brain. An EEG can pick up a seizure or blips of seizure activity that’s not intense enough to cause a seizure. If anxiety or depression showed up on EEG’s mine would always be going haywire but they don’t.
  4. One of my Instagram followers told me that “People think I’ll hit the deck if I see a flashing light” which is not one of their triggers. In fact photosensitivity epilepsy is one of the rarer kinds of epilepsy. With that being said, you don’t know somebody’s trigger(s) unless you ask so air on the side of caution, ask, listen and respect boundaries. Also remember photosensitivity is also a trigger for a few other conditions so it’s still a good idea to be cautious when playing around with that kind of technology.
  5. Another misconception is that epilepsy is an illness or disorder, it’s not but it is a neurological condition, neuro disease or disability.
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