"Psychic Kids" TV Show

[Endless]

Oh, man. Sometimes I want to sit someone down and do some serious epilepsy education.

I was watching this show "Psychic Kids." Now I'm not one to judge - many of these kids may, indeed, be psychic. Psychic phenomena seems to happen more often in people with temporal lobe epilepsy.

But specifically, this one kid was so clearly having temporal lobe seizures.

She'd go into a room and it would "smell really bad - like rotten eggs." Then she'd feel a presence in the room and hear noises. A facilitator asked her what she was feeling, and she said "scared." Then he asked "what is the ghost saying?" The girl said, "he's angry."

Okay, bad smell (that isn't there), feeling a presence (that isn't there), hearning noises (that aren't there). SIMPLE PARTIALS, TEMPORAL LOBE! Those of us in that great big club recognize them.

Then that suggestible kid is told by an adult authority figure that is a ghost ("what is the ghost saying?) He asked what she was feeling (scared), and then asked to say what the ghost was "saying." (he's angry). That means she interpreted it as a ghost based on the adult telling her it was a ghost. And she interpreted what the "ghost" was saying (angry) based on her emotional feelings about it (scared).

Then they praised her for having special talents in detecting ghosts.

Really, it wouldn't be imporant, but

1) The child needs to see a doctor and get on some meds before the seizures get worse

2) It's mis-educating everybody else that sees that episode, so they don't seek help if they have similar symptoms.

Oh, my. (said with dismay)

[Rae1889]

I can totally tell the difference between my psychic experiences and my seizures. and I have never smelled rotten eggs with it.