History of Epilepsy

Spirits.  That’s what people associate with seizures.  Carried off by ghosts.  Epileptics!  Not people with epilepsy.  What’s the difference?  “Epileptics” are creatures that are enveloped by seizures, fits of shaking and unconsciousness.  All that’s scary
and unknown.  Our health condition seems so foreign because of all the mysterious forms of seizures and the interesting, spooky history about epilepsy.  However, people with epilepsy are people who have a medical disorder that they live with every day, and manage by following a treatment plan, however imperfect it may be.

In his book On the Sacred Disease  written in 400 B.C.E, the Greek physician Hippocrates rejected the idea that epilepsy was “divine” or “sacred.”  He recognized it for what it is:  a disorder caused by electrical disturbances in the brain. 

However, most still believed in the myths that epilepsy is related to spiritual or mystical powers. There was persecution of all kinds.  Witch hunts and burnings. As part of the Salem witch trials in 1692, many people with nonepileptic seizures (another topic for a future post) were rounded up.  Even now, in parts of Africa, epilepsy is associated with witchcraft.  And in China and India, people with epilepsy are forbidden to marry.

There was also a time when people were routinely locked up in asylums and kept from public view.  A notable example of this is Prince John of the United Kingdom, the youngest son of King George V and Queen Mary. He was kept in seclusion at Wood Farm, a small cottage in Norfolk, England, until his death in 1919.  He lived to be only 13 years old.  His life was better than most at the time, but still, he had to deal with isolation from society.    There is now a documentary of his life called  The Lost Prince.

Although much has changed and there is much more awareness and understanding about seizures and epilepsy, we still have a lot of work to do.  Education about epilepsy is a constant process, since there will always be someone who does not know what it is, or what to do when someone has a seizure.