Do we understand this problem

This will seem unnecessarily philosophical to some but I'm sure to many there is the nagging question as to what all this amounts to. What I mean is: epilepsy seems, even with refinements in terminology, an extremely difficult condition to define. This may be due to how the condition is expressed in each individual; it may also be that there are several conditions lumped together under a single concept. It would be an interesting project if we could put together the defining characteristics of this condition from members here and see if there are aspects not covered in the standard descriptions. I'm not sure yet whether I suffer from epilepsy but it's beginning to look that way. In my case, apart from what looks like simple partial seizure activity I have had a lot of trouble with anxiety and depression going back 30 years. I am 58 and can point to one classic simple partial episode complete with olfactory hallucinations ten years ago. I was in the midst of a major anxiety-depression epsiode at the time. Because anxiety and depression are so common these days no doctor I've talked to ever suggested that epilepsy might be the important factor. I suspect that there is a very large number of people who have neurological "abnormalities" that play havoc with their lives but which are just below any seizure threshold and so never or rarely make themselves manifest as a condition. Summary: Despite convenient and useful labels (simple partial, tonic clonic etc) there is much that remains unclear. Do others feel this way?