Epilepsy From a Six Dimensional Point of View: Part I

Those of you reading this most likely have epilepsy or a seizure disorder or know someone close to you that does. This article is directed at you that have come to know epilepsy daily in your lives. "Epilepsy" in the Webster's Dictionary is defined as "a nervous disease characterized by a muscular spasm and loss of consciousness". And besides I know the edition I took it from was dated 1981, epilepsy never was a disease! Does that definition encompass implications or the imposed boundaries felt by the one diagnosed? The answer is absolutely NOT! That trite definition doesn't begin to touch on the psychological factors that none of us can walk away from but exist nonetheless. Epilepsy if far from its tagged sterile textbook definition and its perception to us as those with seizures which is what I'm addressing here. Your perception of your diagnosis and your seizure are important. Societies' perception of the epilepsy experience is largely false because stigmas are the foundation that supports them. Focused public awareness will eventually reshape societies' views but that will take time to abolish old views while teaching new to mass amounts of people. Reshaping your views on what you experience can be done in a much more expedient fashion, thankfully. Whatever is in your mind when the word seizure is mentioned and the degree of negativity it imposes on you due to your attitudes can be altered with practice. Your attitudes don't have to be a permanent birthmark. Instead, your diagnosis can become your personal "insignia" dictated by your value system. Aside from acceptance of your diagnosis, taking your anticonvulsants, adapting daily to a constantly changing disorder; you have formed views regarding seizures. Much more comes into play than how you feel about having generalized or partial epilepsy, or whatever type of seizure you may have. Naturally there are personal views on the degree of acceptance to a doctor's teary eyed words of "you're intractable" or "we've tried nearly everything and don't know what to do." After the acceptance, and long after you're adaptability to what fate hands you each morning, you've got views about your seizure itself. These views are as common as an every day light fixture or as ominous as an unexpected intruder. Transforming "epilepsy" into a metaphorical thing shaped like clay by you is merely a tool. This tool is an aid getting you closer to some buried feelings that may be hampering your lifestyle. In the literary world they call taking a topic and looking at it from various viewpoints "cubing". It's one of the many techniques employed to get a fresh insight on a well-worn subject.

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