suicide and seizures

Hi There, You're subject to this post is interesting, but your series of questions are VERY interesting that follow. So, I'll give you an answer here, but prior to doing so, I have some questions back for you which I will answer in the process about myself. Don't answer them publicly, if you're not comfortable, just read thru what I write here & think about it in your own terms, k. #1. How old are you? FYI: I'm 33. #2. When were you diagnosed with seizures? FYI: Me, age 5. Got a bit of a break when they thought I outgrew things from 12-16, but really age 5. I've been epileptic most of my life. #3. How often do you have seizures: Me - depends on my stress levels really - most often is once a week. #4. And, I think I can predict your answer here, have you accepted the diagnosis? ME: I'm okay with it. Gotta go with the flow in life. OK, now as far as talking to people about epilepsy. Sure, I can talk to people. I always find, there's a difference between talking to people & dwelling on it. I'm comfortable enough to mention to people that I happen to be a controlled epileptic. Usually, with friends when we're out it will come up because everyone orders a mix drink & I'll order a 'Starbucks' type drink, a coke or a cranberry juice. People wonder why I don't drink alcohol. I'll show them my medic-alert thing & tell them I'm epileptic & say that's why. Similar situations - wrong as it may be, I do hang out with people who do pot. They know if I'm REALLY tired that it has an effect on me because I'm epileptic, so they won't do it near me. They respect that & either I'll hang out away from them for a bit, or they take off & go away from me to do it. The last situation is work. My jobs have always required travel to a certain extent. Not having a license does have an impact, so I level with people & say I'm willing to go anywhere by bus, train, plane, etc. This is where I can give you an interesting example. Yesterday I had a job interview - Most intense one I've had in my life!! Part A - Hard hitting questions for just over an hour. Part B - some technical stuff. Part C - a presentation about something significant to me - tie the company into it & technology. Well, I leveled with the guy, told him I was epileptic & my topic of choice. Epilepsy! I was comfortable enough to give him a great 5-10 minute presentation on how I handle it all in my life. Tell him, sure sometimes I'm tired, sure sometimes I have some killer headaches, but for the most part life goes on! At the end, he said it was really informative & that he learned a lot from my overview. He understood and appreciated where I was coming from on it all. Thing is, I think it is because I've accepted the fact that epilepsy is part of who I am. Sure, it sucks when I have a seizure & know that the time count starts over until I'm approved for a license, but that's ok. I just plan life around it. If you think things thru - there's much worse out there you could end up diagnosed with. Seizure disorders and epilepsy can be controlled in many ways - medications, surgery, VNS, etc. - lots of options for you. Cancer, Heart Attacks, and various life threating things - little control, and little time to live when you find out! Be happy, take control back of your life & don't let seizures stand in your way so much, just accept them as part of who you are, as necessary mention that to people - deal with it but don't dwell on it & maybe things will look up for you. Hope this sorta novel-ish answer helps. ~ EC / GodivaGirl

For me it took my family a lonmg time to realize what I was going through. I was told by my wife and daughter that I embarssed them with my spells. After that I become distant with them and went into a deep state of depression and tried to take my own life. Guess best thing you have to ask yourself you want to get busy living or dieing. It's that simple. Depression took over my life only with many scprit drugs combinations and when I added booze to the mix things got ugly fast If you want email me at outdoorone@hotmail.com and talk i'll try to answer everything I can. Just remember people love you no matter what you're worth it.........marty