Having Epilepsy: The Experience and Control of Illness

Based on in-depth interviews with eighty people who have epilepsy, this book gives a first-hand account of what it is like to cope with a chronic illness, while working, playing, and building relationships. The authors recount how people discover they have epilepsy and what it means; how families respond to someone labeled epileptic ; how seizures affect a person’s sense of self and self-control. Epilepsy patients explain what they want from their doctors and why the medication practices they develop may not coincide with doctor’s orders.
The variety of experiences of epilepsy is suggested both by the interviews and by the range of terms for seizures Petit Mal, Grand Mal, auras, fits, absences. The principal difficulty for many people with epilepsy is not the medical condition but the social stigma. A person with epilepsy has to cope with discrimination in obtaining a job, insurance, or a driver’s license, and he or she may be cautious about revealing this disabling condition to an employer or even a spouse.People with epilepsy may manage information about themselves and their lapses and look for safe places like restrooms where they can be alone should a seizure begin. Many of those interviewed complained of overreactions to seizures by colleagues or bystanders: epilepsy patients were embarrassed at having provoked a public crisis or were annoyed at waking up in a hospital emergency room. This is a book for people who have epilepsy, for their families and friends; for health care professionals who deal with chronic illnesses; and for students of medical sociology and the sociology of deviance. Author note: Joseph W. Schneider is Associate Professor of Sociology at Drake University. Peter Conrad is Assistant Professor of Sociology at Brandeis University.