November: Epilepsy Awareness Month, Novel Writing Month, No Shave Month, Read Vicki's Blog Month....Yay!

In honor of national epilepsy month and national novel writing month, and in an attempt to further put off actually writing another novel, I’ve decided to write a series of posts about epilepsy in literature.

I’ve touched on this before here, but now I want to do a more in-depth analysis. A couple things to keep in mind: some of these books I’m reading for the first time so I might misrepresent them. Second, all these interpretations, which I admit might be extremely loose at times, are just mine. I’m sure the author/s might have had different motives but I’m not particularly interested in that at the moment. Plus, I think books are meant to be interpreted in different ways.

So, let’s start at the very beginning (I’ve been told it’s a very good place to start) with the most popular book in America…no, it’s not Harry Potter (although one could argue about the similarities), it’s the Bible. (If you’re wondering what the second most popular book is, it’s Gone with the Wind).

Epilepsy is alive and well throughout the Bible. Now before I go on citing passages and all that, I want to note that I’m talking about the Bible as a historical document. Ok?

Predictably, the Bible lumps seizures and other “lunatic” behavior in with demonic possession. In the 21^st century, this is absurd. However, I think it’s attribution to something demonic speaks to something deeper.

Fear.

Societies deal with different fears in different ways at different times. Today, we attempt to assuage our fear of death by compulsive dieting and adopting pseudoscientific methods like the Paleo diet. From this, it is easy to see how, in a world governed by religion, demons would be attributed to something unknown, misunderstood, and scary.

I believe that the Bible’s description of epilepsy as a demonic curse does not suggest that people thought those who had seizure were demonic themselves. I believe it was simply a way for a highly religious society to explain something they didn’t understand.

In fact, this demonic association actually remove the blame from the individual. It would have been easy to say the person was a witch (we’ll see that later) and burn them at the stake. Or to point and laugh at them and pretend to flail around. Instead, the Bible says that people brought their ill to Jesus, who cast away the devil. Whether or not you actually believe this, the text still reflects a specific societal fear, much like a great deal of science fiction in the 1960’s played off America’s cold war-related fears.

So, as easy as it is to cast away religious nut jobs who think people like me are possessed by the devil, it is important to remember where these fears stem from. Once society as a whole actually understands what epilepsy is and how it doesn’t have to be a scary, stigmatized thing, people like me won’t have to be demonized by the scientifically uneducated. Luckily, the only times I’ve ever been accused of demonic possession is when I’m hangry. Seriously, I am the poster child for a Snickers commercial. But hey, maybe we just need to understand blood sugar right?

Stay tuned to hear about epilepsy in other books and if you have suggestions for other books please comment!

Epilepsy awareness month?

So today, November 13, I found out it was epilepsy awareness month. I feel slightly ashamed that it took me almost half of November to realize this. I wish I could blame it on NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) but seeing as I am nowhere near my word count goal, I cannot. Even if I was writing the next great American novel in one month, it is not excusable. But it did get me thinking. If I have epilepsy, and write about epilepsy, why was I not more aware of this tradition? I really think it comes down to the lack of visibility.

Rough estimates place epilepsy prevalence at around 1% (epilepsy.com). One percent may not seem like large number, but think of your graduating class or place of work. How many people make up that population? Now take 1% of that. And how many times have you heard them or anyone else talk about it? Hopefully the answer is higher than mine (basically zero). Why? Especially when, "according to the World Health Organization, 'epilepsy is the most common serious brain disorder worldwide with no age, racial, social class, national, nor geographic boundaries'" (bcepilepsy.com)?

I suspect this has to do with the fact that episodes are scary, that they are often associated with drunken, crazy, or disorderly conduct, and that they are made fun of. But why is it so easy to talk about other disorders? Why is literally everything pink to support breast cancer, ice bucket challenges go viral, and celebrities talk openly about illnesses, but no one talks about epilepsy? Obviously I am not against bringing attention to any disorder, but it's really gotten to me lately. I recently Googled celebrities with epilepsy and got minimal information. Lil Wayne had a seizure and that's about it. I have no doubt that there are plenty more! Why don't they talk about it? Side note: Phillip K Dick, Van Gogh, Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Socrates, Aristotle, and Plato are all rumored to have suffered from seizure disorders.

I can't really answer this question, and perhaps it is something that is very personal that individuals don't feel comfortable talking about. I get that. But if we could get other, non-epileptics to talk about it, maybe it wouldn't make some of us so hesitant or embarrassed (yes embarrassed!) to mention it.

Help spread the word!! Even if it isn't awareness month.

P.S. if you know someone who has epilepsy, please don't laugh when others mimic a seizure and when in their presence, please try to be conscious of the fact that strobe lights or any type of flashing, flickering lights are triggers. Thanks!

P.P.S. Ideas for ice bucket challenge type thing? Something with cats is bound to go viral.