Behavior and Epilepsy

[hairrockstar]

I recently started working in a new salon. I am a hairstylist and one of the women that I work with is extremely RUDE! She says horrible things to me and all my co-workers. Most of the time they are completely unprovoked. She will scream and yell and tell people off. I confronted her about this behavior (in a nice professional way) and she told me that she has epilepsy and it causes her to say mean things that she does not mean. So, I let the situation go, and she has since then been even more mean and hateful. So, I have been reading everything I can about this condition and I cant find anything to suggest that epileptic disorders assist in behavior issues. I feel like she is just making an excuse for her bad behavior. Can anyone please educate me on this issue? Does anyone know of this condition contributing to the inability to behave by society "norms".

Again, I am sorry for the question, I just want to understand if I can help or if I need to address this issue with the salon owners.

[RobinN]

I moved you to your own thread so your answers don't become confused with the ongoing thread you posted in. Here people can answer you directly.

Unfortunately it is very common.
Seizures and abnormal brain activity can cause all sorts of unusual behavior. Not only does the disorder cause this, but add in the medication and you can have unusual side effects. There is also another neurological condition called tourette syndrome, and it can cause a person to blurt out unacceptable words. I have learned many times that a seizure disorder can be paired with other neurological issues.

Perhaps for your co-worker, it is stress that triggers it. I hope that with compassion and understanding that she will find a way to reduce the episodes. If she has an aura, that she knows it is going to occur, she might be comforted to know she can go into a back room until it is over.

PS - I admire you for coming to find answers. That is very thoughtful, rather than just assuming she was off her rocker.
Welcome to CWE.

[knothing]

This is a very tough situation to be in. There are so many factors to take into consideration.
Type of Epilepsy
Medications
Type of Seizures
How her other coworkers and boss have allowed this type of interaction
Possibility of Aura's or triggers
Her willingness to want to prevent this behavior
How her home and family support structure treat her

This is just a list of what I could think of at the moment. This is not too much different than what helps make anyone who they are. Having epilepsy in most people is not a handicap or even a good excuse for acting certain ways. It can make things difficult but we are no less normal than you are. I would just suggest in her case to give her time and patience. Don't let anything she does cost you the job you have. You are heading in the right direction by just going out to look for more knowledge on the subject. There is always someone around to answer......just ask.

[Rae1889]

Yes, I agree with all of the above.
There is one medication that immediately comes to mind with this situation. Its called Keppra, and people have nicknamed the random angry outburst "Kepp-rage" This is a fairly common side effect of this drug.

Also the other thing that comes to mind, is that she may have said this to cover up for her rudeness, hoping that if you think she has a mental or neurological condition, you won't go to the labour board with any complaints, thinking that they may be due to her condition or disorder. I have had one boss tell me that she had issues with doing certain things because of a past back injury, so she sat in the back all day. But I had seen her playing frisbee in our local park soon after she told me.

Secondly she may have something else along with Epilepsy. Like RobinN said. It isnt uncommon for a mental or pychological disorder to come along with E. This could be things like Bi-polar, Depression, Tourettes, etc etc. Plus any stress can be adding to her outburts as just being tired puts stress on the body and mind, which lowers the seizure threshold in some people with E.

and as Knothing stated. Show her your willingness to understand and help out. ask her if there is anything she needs you to do, instead of waiting for her to ask. Sometimes just taking the intiative to ask, helps take the stress off her to delegate seemingly common-sense tasks.

Also, you should get familar with recognizing types of seizures, and the first aid that goes along with them. Should she have a seizure infront of you, you need to know what to do. These could be something like spacing out, wandering aimlessly, being unresponsive or confused in her surroundings. and the Obvious, a grand mal. (now called tonic clonics)

It might also be a good idea to enquire on the existing workplace safety reports. Such as who is trained in CPR and first aid, and where the medical information is kept for each staff member. If ANYTHING happens at the work place with ANY employee, the staff should be trained to deal with it. starting CPR right away can be the difference bewteen life and death instead of waiting for the ambulance. Things like an allergy, Where is the EpiPen located? or If someone is unconcious, what information do you need to give the EMTs (allergies to medications, conditions etc)

Here in Canada it is MANDATORY that all workplaces have some sort of safety net in place.

[BuckeyeFan]

Welcome to CWE. First of all, I want to sincerely thank you for trying to seek out information about epilepsy before judging someone who has it. That is very kind of you. One of the biggest challenges that we with epilepsy face is the public misinformation and perceptions about epilepsy. Sometimes the public treatment received leads us to try to hide our condition. Thank you for being so considerate.

Second, this is just my opinion, but one way you 'might' be able to tell if the rudeness is related to the epilepsy or other disorder is how it is triggered. If it comes at random times with no apparent trigger, like an episode, it may be more e-related. If just general rudeness, it may not be. Again, that is just an opinion.

I agree with the others above. Epilepsy can have other conditions as well.