Epilepsy Awareness Day Masterpost (26th March, 2022)
Welcome everyone! Today we celebrate and bring awareness for Epilepsy Awareness Day! Many of us have heard the word epilepsy, but who knows what it actually means?
Epilepsy is a neurological disorder in which brain activity becomes abnormal (imbalanced) causing seizures or periods of unusual behavior, sensations and sometimes loss of awareness. In order to be diagnosed with epilepsy one must have at least two seizures without a known trigger that happens at least 24 hours apart.
Diagnosis can be done through a neurological exam, blood tests, MRIs, CT scans, lumbar puncture, and electroencephalogram (measure’s brain’s electrical activity).
There are three main categories of seizures: generalized onset, focal onset, and unknown onset. Let's take a look at what each means:
- Generalized Onset seizures: These are seizures that affect both sides of the brain or group of cells are affected at the same time. An example of this is a tonic-clonic, also known as grand mal seizure. This is the one most people know as the person usually has violent muscle contractions and loss of consciousness. Absence and atonic seizures are also forms of generalized onset seizures.
- Focal Onset seizures: These are broken into two subcategories - aware and impaired seizures. Focal onset aware seizures occur when a person is awake and aware that they are having a seizure (used to be called simple partial seizure). Focal onset impaired awareness is when a person is confused or their awareness state is affected during a focal seizure (used to be called complex partial seizure).
- Unknown Onset seizures are diagnosed when the beginning of a seizure is unknown. It can be unknown if the trigger cannot be identified or if it’s not witnessed by anyone (i.e. seizures happen at night or in a person who lives alone). It is only later on as more information is learned is it possible to be diagnosed as a focal or generalized seizure.
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Epilepsy can be caused by many different things such as genetics, head trauma, brain damage, stroke, and tumors. People have a higher risk of having epilepsy if they are a child or an older adult, family history of epilepsy, head injuries, drug/alcohol use, vascular diseases, dementia, and brain infections.
Some common signs of a seizure are staring, jerking movements, stiffening of body, loss of consciousness, breathing difficulties, loss of bowel/bladder control, appearing confused or unaware, rapid eye blinking, and falling.
To learn more about Epilepsy as we spread awareness today, visit https://www.epilepsy.com/ or click Here.
References
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/epilepsy/symptoms-causes/syc-20350093
https://www.epilepsy.com/learn/types-seizures
This is the masterpost for the event, and the links to the posts will be added once made!
Posts
Icebreaker: Do you have or know someone who has epilepsy?
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Many thanks to @wonderfulrainbow817 for drafting this, you're such a blessing to our community❤️
@MyNameIsNicole
Hey hey Nicole, thanks for creating this super informative post, your time and efforts are appreciated greatly. It is certainly great to expand our knowledge. 💜
Sending love to everyone coming across! 💜
@Sunisshiningandsoareyou
Thank you for your kind words, I'm glad this was of use to you. Have a nice week ahead Sun💜
@MyNameIsNicole
Aw ofcourse, it was! Thanks, lovely! Have an amazing week ahead too! ❤️
@MyNameIsNicole
Very nice article!💜💜
I have known people with epilepsy. My mother currently deals with seizures, though we're not certain it's epilepsy or another factor.
Hey @MunchieTaters. Seizures in general can be hard to diagnose, especially when the factor is unknown at the time. Sometimes the factor may be unknown but later on down the road it becomes known. I hope your mom can find some answers!
@MyNameIsNicole
love this post!! amazing that you’re spreading awareness. 💜💜
my best friend has epilepsy and she’s so strong. i love her so much!
@Elleabelle, thanks for sharing with us! I think those with disabilities, disorders, conditions, etc. are some of the strongest people ever!
@MyNameIsNicole
I personally have unknown onset seizures. We get so close to figuring out the cause, but then it ends up a dead end. I hope in the near future I can find the main trigger so I can remain as safe as possible and manage it better.
@wonderfulRainbow817 I hope so too. Sending love and the best wishes❤️
P.s how did your finals go?
@MyNameIsNicole thank you for how informative this is! I have epilepsy but I don’t know much about it because I forget most things lol. Was nice to learn more about it
@MyNameIsNicole Thank you for the post
Yes, my mid-aged cousin recently had epileptic shocks or seizures one night suddenly.
We took him to a hospital immediately and the doctors said that one of his brain nerves has gotten damaged somehow.
It's been months and he still is on bed rest.
Hoping he and everyone stays safe 🧡
I was very surprised to see this thread, because I didn't know there was an awareness day for epilepsy!
I developed epilepsy as a result of complex trauma, and it activated under the overwhelming emotional stress in college. I started having grand mal siezures and scans revealed uncharacteristic reactions somewhere in my left prefeontal lobe. I've been on meds for a few years now, and will probably never drive a car.
I'm telling my story because I want to create the awareness of my situation, which seems rare in the epilepsy community. Epilepsy can be activated at any stage in life, even in the peak of health like your mid 20s like me. Brain damage can also come from emotional stress and repeated trauma. Emotional abuse can lead to epilepsy! Exposure to narcissistic abuse can lead to epilepsy!
So please stay safe out there, protect your mind as well as you protect your body. I'm rooting for you all, epilepsy survivors or otherwise!
@bubbleDrum3448
Thank you for sharing your story, it's always nice to hear from personal experience. I'm sorry the trauma caused your epilepsy, and I'm happy that you're thriving regardless💜
So many people have trauma from emotional and physical abuse, and it can lead to worse conditions such as epilepsy. I do hope that we can find peace especially to all those in dangerous and unsafe environments.
Thank you once again, and I'm happy this post reached acrosed to you. Take care (:
@MyNameIsNicole I really love these posts. They are so informative and helps us learn something new and gives us basic knowledge about the things.
@Zarram77
I completely agree, the disability support is all about spreading awareness and we have a lot of these posts!
@MyNameIsNicole thank you again!!!💓