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suicide and seizures

Fri, 05/25/2007 - 22:00
what can you say? can you honestly speak to people about epilepsy? can they understand? i doubt it. and who has not made plans? be honest if you can. talk about the seriousness of these events. They do change your psyche. But how?

Comments

Re: Re: Re: suicide and seizures

Submitted by MOLSON on Mon, 2007-06-11 - 20:45
Interesting. psychologists have often linked seizures with fugue states. they share a lot in common. the two states are often confused and sometimes, I think, personalities vulnerable to seizures also may be vulnerable to fugue states. Fugue states can be seen, I think, as partial suicides. This of course is philosophical. But who could understand this if not for someone who has had seizures(and was diagnosed with Fugue states(later changed to a diagnosis of seizure disorder) Am I alone in this thinking? Does anyone have the courage to speak such things? You state that we have seen death a hundred times. Then perhaps seizures have some psychological component of suicide. Perhaps I am going to far.

Re: Re: Re: suicide and seizures

Submitted by Mactheknife on Sat, 2007-09-08 - 08:25
I've been an Eppie for 40 years, but until today I've never seen such a truly in-depth understanding of the condition as Walter's. I tried the easy way out 37 years ago and fortunately it didn't work. But Walter's description of fighting our way back from every seizure, the fear of death not being that strong, and the resulting appreciation of life ... it just hits the nail on the head, doesn't it? Thanks, Walter, for making sense of 40 years of confusion. And, Molson, please don't go there. Even when things look bleak, they only look bleak. :-)

Re: suicide and seizures

Submitted by coolcanadian on Mon, 2007-06-11 - 11:16
Hi Molson, I recently read a well documented study on WebMD CME about depression and E. If memory serves (ha!), about 4 out of five of us will develop Major Depressive Disorder (MDD). On the other side of the coin, more than half of those with MDD will suffer more than one sz before the MDD is resolved. This is the kicker though- people with E and MDD are more than five times likely to attempt suicide. Personally, it's gotten all over me more than once before. And I know of at least a few of my Buddies here have gone through it too. One of my friends here said 'I won't let myself become a statistic'. Like everybody else here, you aren't alone. Keep smilin'- marko

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