How Does Epilepsy Affect Your Family?

Epilepsy News From: Tuesday, August 02, 2016

Community Corner: August 2, 2016

Recently, we’ve had lots of family members of people newly diagnosed with epilepsy coming to ask questions and hear from other family members.

  • People bring their worries about the unpredictability of epilepsy, fears of seeing a seizure, and questions about what to do.
  • How do these fears and worries affect each person in the family? Do the reactions of the person with epilepsy affect family members? How do family reactions affect the person with seizures? Is there a middle ground? 
  • When thinking about family – don’t consider just immediate or biological family. Think about who you can count on for help, a listening ear, or practical help. Extending your support networks may be more valuable than trying to keep “it” within the immediate family. 
  • Finding the practical tips for living with epilepsy and new challenges that work for you is what our community is all about. These are not necessarily tips that a doctor or nurse can give you. It’s the tips or life hacks from one who has been there. 

Top Tip: Talk About It!

The number one tip is to talk about it. Talk about epilepsy, how it affects you and other family members, and how you can find a new normal in your life. The Epilepsy Foundation’s talkaboutit.org offers real life stories and tips from people of all walks of life. The site, spearheaded by Greg Grunberg (actor, Epilepsy Foundation spokesman, and father of a child with seizures), has celebrities introducing helpful information, health care professionals and advocates offering their expertise and help, and, most importantly, people like you. 

Check out the stories created at the 2016 National Walk for Epilepsy Talk About It Experience.

  • Listen to people sharing their stories and tips about how epilepsy affects the family.
  • Shelly and her friend talk about how epilepsy affected her work as a teacher and how friends came to her aid. 
  • Edna talks of the “cloud of fear that overshadows the family” while Emily talks of being treated differently. 
  • Kristine, Michael, and others talk about their loved ones’ death from epilepsy. 
  • Chris, husband of a woman with epilepsy, talks about the family “learning to be a victor, not a victim.” 

Please take a few minutes to check out these videos while you talk about it in our Community Forums and Chat Room

With best wishes to keep talking about it!

Patty Osborne Shafer RN, MN
Associate Editor / Community Manager

Reviewed Date

Tuesday, August 02, 2016

Sign Up for Emails

Stay up to date with the latest epilepsy news, stories from the community, and more.