How is the family of a person with epilepsy affected?

Family members also may report feelings of depression, helplessness, frustration, low self-esteem and high levels of stress. Family members may blame an individual in the family for causing the child’s epilepsy. Parents may blame themselves or their spouse. Siblings often blame themselves.

Can epilepsy be passed to offspring?

Most children of people with epilepsy do not develop seizures or epilepsy. However, since genes are passed down through families, it is possible. Epilepsy is more likely to occur in a brother or sister if the child with epilepsy has generalized seizures.

What percentage of epilepsy is genetic?

About 30 to 40 percent of epilepsy is caused by genetic predisposition. First-degree relatives of people with inherited epilepsy have a two- to four-fold increased risk for epilepsy.

What is life like for a child with epilepsy?

1 Some of the more common emotional and behavioural difficulties seen in these children include increased anxiety, depression, irritability, hyperactivity, aggression, and in some cases, irrational periods of rage.

Can epilepsy cause PTSD?

Exposure to psychological trauma is frequent in epilepsy (7). Moreover, the risk of PTSD in patients presenting with epilepsy is higher than in those without it (odds ratio: 2.0, 95\% CI: 1.2–3.3) (8). Epilepsy surgery is an effective treatment for patients presenting with refractory epilepsy (9).

How does epilepsy affect family and friends?

Living with seizures and epilepsy is a family affair. It affects everyone to some extent but in different ways. The person who has seizures may feel helpless, scared, worried or a host of feelings. Family members and close friends may feel these things too.

What do parents of children with epilepsy need to know?

Parents may also need to care for other children or their own parents. They may be juggling work in or outside the home too. Don’t lose this part of your life by putting all your focus on the child with epilepsy. Finding balance is critical and you may need help to do this.

Do people with epilepsy live in isolation?

People with epilepsy do not live in isolation. Many of the negative events experienced by children with epilepsy are likely to extend to all family members. As stress in the family increases, it may exasperate any pre-existing marital quarrels . Parents may become too attached to their child, which is often very unpredictable.

Can epilepsy be treated?

About two-thirds of people with epilepsy can have their seizures controlled with medication. Another small fraction undergoes successful epilepsy surgery. The others—which include millions of people around the world—must live with drug-resistant epilepsy. Millions of others have uncontrolled seizures because they have no access to treatment.