What is Epilepsy?

Very good question!  My answer depends upon how much the other person seems interested in listening to.  Much of the time I end up telling another, "I have epilepsy" and they will reply, "Oh; seizures?"  Their response often suggests they are not too interested in knowing more so I reply back, "Ya; I have seizures."  End of discussion.  But like you said about "electrical storm", this seems to fail to come close to explaining what epilepsy is about.If the other person seems interested I like to explain that persons with epilepsy are prone to having seizures.   I like to quickly assure them that I no longer experience the "grand mal" or convulsions that many people think of.  And then I describe what I experience.  I think it is valuable that we share our individual seizure experiences as this helps others realize there can be great variation.  By this point I can tell if they want to know more.  I don't use the comparison electrical storm too much, but I like to share that seizures are uncontrolled, excess electrical activity in the brain.  Anyone with a functioning brain can have a seizure but some of us are more prone to having them and so we are diagnosed with "epilepsy".  If the other still seems interested I will share some statistics on how some get control with meds but others seem never able to get full control.  But so far we have only touched on what seizures are.  I think I had epilepsy for 25 years before I began to distinguish epilepsy and seizures.  The best definition I found was a quote from a doctor in a medical book, "three components of epilepsy--- disease; the underlying process (researchers are trying to understand how epilepsy starts and develops)  illness---the clinical manifestations (these are the seizures)  and predicament..." (David Taylor)    Epilepsy is often a predicament that so changes one's life it could take a small book to tell about it.

Michael made some very good points and without going into great detail, I’ll say two things. First, the Epilepsy Foundation has a great article that I think gives the technical definition of epilepsy and even makes the distinction between epilepsy and seizure. I’ve included that link for you here: https://www.epilepsy.com/article/2014/4/revised-definition-epilepsyHowever, that article falls short of defining epilepsy in its entirety because it doesn’t address what epilepsy actually is from the perspective of a person who actually lives with it on a daily basis. I’ve had epilepsy for nearly twenty years and Michael has had it even longer. He calls it a “predicament”, which I think is a great word, but having worked as a vocational rehabilitation counselor for the blind and my life experiences being different than Michael’s, I tend to agree more with the philosophy that the National Federation for the Blind have about blindness and apply it to my epilepsy and other people’s disabilities. They believe that blindness is not what is disabling, but that society is what places limits on those who are blind. I feel the same way about someone who has epilepsy because all of my limits as a person with epilepsy have been external and based on the lack of understanding, outright discrimination, or lack of access. The National Federation for the Blind has always been controversial in their stance on this, but now that I’ve lived with epilepsy for twenty years...I can say that they are the only one’s who have been able to identify the that truth about disability in their definition and it’s essential for our definition to be updated to include that language for others to understand, stop discrimination, and improve our access. 

I see what you mean about trying to explain it to others who are interested. I think seizures are still a word that people don't really understand either. I guess a better way to ask the question would be: How would you explain it to a 5 yr old?