EPILEPSY AND MENTAL HEALTH: THE EXPERT VIEW

Richard Selway is a consultant neurosurgeon specialising in epilepsy. He works at the London Neurosurgery Partnership at The Harley Street Clinic, part of HCA Healthcare UK

What is epilepsy?

Epilepsy is the tendency to have repeated seizures, which affects about one in 100 people, so you probably know at least one person with the condition. A seizure is an electrical disturbance in the brain

– a ‘short circuit’ – that causes that area to misfire. What seizures look or feel like will be determined by which part of the brain is involved. If a seizure starts in an area dealing with speech, then the sufferer may be unable to speak for a minute or two; in Anna’s case, it affects the visual areas, so vision is disturbed. If the seizure spreads right across the brain, it will cause a generalised tonic-clonic seizure, also known as a grand mal attack, characterised by a loss of consciousness and muscle contractions.

What impact can epilepsy have on your mental health?

A seizure can trigger anxiety by affecting parts of the brain involved in the fear response. However, the unpredictability of when an attack might occur is often a major cause of anxiety and can have a seriously limiting impact on sufferers.

This can lead to lower life satisfaction and even depression. Harvard psychiatrists have estimated that as many as a third of people with epilepsy suffer from periodic depression and that epilepsy sufferers are four to seven times more likely to suffer with depression than the average person.

How can you help an epilepsy sufferer in your life?

If you see someone who’s collapsed, with their limbs shaking, cushion their head and move any furniture away from them to avoid injury. If in doubt, or if the seizure continues for more than five minutes (the vast majority will stop after the first minute or two), you should call 999. Don’t put anything in their mouth or try to restrain them during the attack, but do roll them into the recovery position if they’re unconscious afterwards. But it’s not just about the actual attack – given the shame sufferers can experience, which can lead to developing mental health conditions, it’s important to reinforce that the condition doesn’t make them any less valuable as a person.

For more information on epilepsy or for support with managing symptoms, go to epilepsysociety.org.uk