About Epilepsy-an educational blog

Do you know what epilepsy is? I hope so. if you don't, you really should. I'd like to ask you to take a moment and read this. This is very useful to know.

*What is epilepsy?*
Epilepsy is a disease. It can be mild, or it can be very severe. It all depends on the person. So what exactly does it do? It causes headaches, migraines, and most importantly, seizures.

*What's a seizure?*
Ugh. Seizure. My least favorite word in the English language. A seizure happens when the neurons in someone's brain are allowed by the brain to send totaly weird messages out to the different parts of the body. The parts we see can vary-sometimes, like in the case of a tonic-clonic seizure, the seizure is quite obvous. The person will typically follow this pattern for a tonic-clonic:weird groan, pass out, lie very still, have tense muscles, and they may stop breathing. If you happen to witness this, don't worry about the not breathing. They'll breath again soon, and no damage will be done(as far as I know.) At any rate, don't panic. That's all in the first phase of the seizure. In the second, the prson will shake ike crazy, toss about, and make involuntary movements. An absence seizure is when someone just kind of stares at something and won't respond to anything. It takes about 10 seconds. Note-if you see someone doing this, don't automatically assume it's a seizure. it could be, but it might not. Anyway, it woud take days for me to tell you all about every kind of seizure, but feel free to search "typws of seizures." on wikipedia and learn about them.

*Important responses for witnesses*
A witness' first reaction is to panic, especially if the victim has passed out. Please don't. Oh I beg of you, if you do, at least look calm. Panicking is bad. Really bad. First of all, when the victim wakes up, a calm, comforting person by their side is very important. It keeps them calm, too. After all, it's very embarrassing, and it's not pleasant. Second of all, if there are any other witnesses, one calm person might be able to calm the rest. At any rate, if you are worried for the person's safety, there are severa things you can do to help them that I'm sure they will appreciate(you know, once they're aware of what's happened.) First, you can make sure that there are no sharp objects anywhere nearby that they can hurt themselves on. Second, you can put them into the recovery position. (I believe that means to turn them on theirleft side. Might eant to make sure somewhere on the interenet, though.) Third, keep any crowd away. (Ask them nicely to at east back up, leaving would be preferrable.) It's quite embarrasing to wake up to a crowd and not have any idea why. Fourth, if you are not a medical proffesional or an adult, you can get an adult or have someone else do it if you are afraid to leave the person. Fifth, if you are at a school, get a teacher or have someone else do it. Sixth, when the person awakens, be sweet and kind to them. Remember that they may not be aware that they have just had a seizure. Do not leave them until they are acting as they normally would. If they act out of it, don't leave them. Seventh, if you can, make them as comfortable as possible, especialy their head. Once they are fully awake, it woud be nice to let them know you care.

*Seizure myths*
A person cannot swallow their tounge during a seizure.
Don't worry about that.

*What NOT to do*
Don't place anything inside their mouth. They can bite their tongue, and it's a ot more likely if something is placed in their mouth.
If the person is making involuntary movements, don't restrain them. Both you and the victim could be harmed.
Don't ignore the victim like a piece of gum on the floor. it's rude, it's stupid, it's mean, it's cruel...you get the idea.
Don't make the person feel like you think theat they're a total freak, or that they are incapabe of living a life.

*About me*
No, I don't have epilespy. I wrote this because my best friend has it, and many people are not aware that the disease even exists. I'm no medical expert. Anything I have said may by chance be wrong, but assure you athat I've tried my best to put this together because I care about people with epilepsy, and I want other to be aware of the disease's existence. If you DARE insult someone who has it or call them a freak, tease them, ect. go away. I wil get angry, I promise.

Christen, this is for you. I want others to know and to do the right thing. I hope that you and others may be benefited by this.

Any comments or questions would be great. Thanks for reading! I know it's long, but this is very important to me.