How does epilepsy affect society

Do you know how to balance the need to stay safe and live life the way you want? Do you know how to find support and resources you may need? Do you talk about living with epilepsy? If not, would it help to hear others talk about it? How about talking with others, right here on epilepsy. What is life with epilepsy going to be like? What kind of community support can help me?

Look for a support groups. Ask your doctor or other health care professionals for help. Look for a local Epilepsy Foundation. Check with the nearest epilepsy center. Maybe they have a support group, educational sessions, or can connect you with other families. You found your way here and now you can talk to people online! Use the comments below or try the forums and chat in the Connect section. How does epilepsy affect family life?

The first step is to realize that people will react differently. Each member of the family needs to understand what epilepsy is , how it's treated , and what to expect. The level of understanding will depend on each person's age and abilities, of course. Families can be a great source of support for someone with epilepsy, but it might take some work. Encourage all members of your family to learn as much as they can. Then you can share with each other your feelings, fears, and hopes. How does epilepsy affect school?

Talk to your doctor and tell him or her how you or your child feel and what trouble you or your child may be having. Tell the teachers what is going on. Ask for help, such as extra time, tutoring, or whatever it takes. Improving seizure control or changing medicines to lessen side effects may help the school problems. Detailed testing may find learning problems so you can get the right kind of help.

Talk to the school counselor and see if other help can be set up. Know your rights! Every student should get the help they need to get the most out of school. Involve the school nurse. Usually seizures stop by themselves. If status happens in a tonic clonic seizure when the person is unconscious and shakes , an ambulance needs to be called. Emergency medication may need to be given to stop the seizure. Although it is very rare, it is possible to die due to epilepsy.

SUDEP is when a person with epilepsy dies suddenly and where no other cause of death is found. Getting the best seizure control possible is often the best way of reducing risks relating to epilepsy and seizures. Making epilepsy just one part of your life might help you to get the most out of going to university. The key to achieving a fuller life might be to take care of yourself, take control of your epilepsy, plan ahead and make the most of what help and support are available.

Dealing with feelings and emotional issues and a number of other websites and forums such as the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service UCAS and the National Union of Students NUS or studentastic , the student room and studential that offer information and support.

If you would like to talk to someone about anything you have read here, you can call our helpline. Being well prepared will help you to make the most of your time at university. Information for young people about epilepsy including how it may affect your life, education, relationships, driving or worklife. Getting around and being independent is an important part of growing up. Find out about epilepsy and driving, transport and travelling. Download Social issues, lifestyle, and epilepsy factsheet.

Skip to content. Skip to navigation. Site Navigation About epilepsy About epilepsy What is epilepsy? Epileptic seizures Seizure types Diagnosing epilepsy Epilepsy treatment Anti-seizure medication Medication Sodium valproate First aid for epileptic seizures Information for carers Information for parents Teaching children with epilepsy Personal stories Living with epilepsy Living with epilepsy Travel and holidays What help is available?

Social issues, lifestyle, and epilepsy. Living arrangements Choosing where you want to live is an important decision. Do you need help during or after a seizure? If so, who can help, and how will you call them? Who should you tell? The choice is yours, but you may want to think about the following points. If you have seizures, it might be useful for people to know, so that they know how to help you. You might just want to tell the people you spend most time with, or your tutor.

It is your choice Call us for some first aid cards that you could give out to people, or use the first aid section of this website to show them how they can help you if you have a seizure. Leisure and sport Going out and having fun is important to us all and at university there are plenty of opportunities. What sports can I do? Computer games that have flashing images may carry a warning on the packaging.

Are you better with private study, group work, lectures or practical work? If you are good at studying, then an academic course might be right for you. If you are better at practical work then a vocational course may suit you better.

Do you prefer course work or exams? Have a look through the course prospectus or get in touch with the university to find out more about how courses are run and assessed. You could also think about whether doing the course over a longer period of time would help.

You could then contact the university to dicuss whether this would be an option. Epilepsy, seizures, and medication can affect how you feel both physically and emotionally. Seizures can cause injury or make you feel tired and 'out of sorts'. You may be quite relaxed about your epilepsy or it may make you stressed or depressed. All these feelings can affect your well-being, concentration or memory. Being able to manage your seizures so that you have the fewest seizures possible and they have minimal impact on your life, might help improve how you feel physically and emotionally.

Generally looking after yourself getting enough sleep, eating well, and doing things that you enjoy can also all help. Some people find it helpful to talk to friends or to a university counsellor. Having epilepsy can affect you in lots of ways. This can be because of the cause of your epilepsy, because of the impact of your seizures, tiredness, or because of any medication or treatment you receive for your epilepsy.

There are lots of reasons why someone might have epilepsy. Causes of epilepsy vary from inherited conditions to head injuries. You may or may not know why you have got epilepsy. If your epilepsy is the result of an illness or brain injury, this cause itself could affect you. For example, a cause that affects the temporal lobe of your brain could affect your memory, or maybe the cause of your epilepsy could also affect your ability to concentrate.

The impact of your seizures depends on how they affect you. If your seizures are controlled by medication, you might find that they have no impact on you at all. Some seizures may not affect you physically. Other seizures may cause you to behave in a strange way or you may fall down, and this can cause injuries that you may need to recover from. Tonic Clonic seizures where you fall and shake may affect you for some time afterwards.

Letting your friends, lecturers and tutors know about your epilepsy may help them to understand and support you better.

If you have seizures, sometimes they may take some time to recover from. While some people may be able to go about their normal activities quickly after a seizure, others may feel tired and need to sleep and take time to rest afterwards. Having seizures at night can affect the amount and quality of your sleep. This lack of sleep can also have an impact on you and your learning. Explaining this to tutors can help them to understand and support you. For some people, tiredness can also be a trigger for seizures.

Having fun when you go out is important but getting enough sleep and being aware of your triggers can help reduce seizures and their impact. Most people with epilepsy have their seizures controlled with medication. But whether your siezures are controlled or not, taking medication or other forms of treatment can also affect you. Not everyone experiences side effects from medication but, for some people, side effects can make them tired or drowsy, or can make it harder to think and process information, or to learn or remember things.

It may help to work out the best time of day to take medication or to speak to your neurologist about the most appropriate medication for you as a student. For some people with epilepsy, having epilepsy surgery can help to reduce or stop seizures. While surgery may help to reduce the impact of having seizures, surgery itself can potentially cause problems, particularly with memory.