How has epilepsy made you a better person?

Welcome to the Coping With Epilepsy Forums

Welcome to the Coping With Epilepsy forums - a peer support community for folks dealing (directly or indirectly) with seizure disorders. You can visit the forum page to see the list of forum nodes (categories/rooms) for topics.

Please have a look around and if you like what you see, please consider registering an account and joining the discussions. When you register an account and log in, you may enjoy additional benefits including no ads, access to members only (ie. private) forum nodes and more. Registering an account is free - you have nothing to lose!

E

Emerald

New
Messages
101
Reaction score
0
Points
0
I figured it was time we reflected on how we have benefited from having epilepsy. There's so many negative sides to it, it's important to find the good sides. So I ask each of you this: How has epilepsy made you a better person?
 
I'll go first. Having epilepsy has made me a better person by teaching me what it means to persevere and not give up.
 
I think it's making me better at empathizing and connecting with others. I'm still a work in progress of course. :)
 
I think it's made me more understanding of a whole range of people with a whole range of ailments and all their various prescriptions.
Sometimes someone didn't mean to be a jerk. It was some combination of feeling crappy and the meds talking.
 
It has made me understand Don Mclean's "Vincent". How he suffered for his sanity. Some experts say he did have E, others disagree. Anyhow, it can bring out one's creativity.
It has also made me more accepting of others and less judgmental. It has also taught my kids patience and what to do when they see someone experiencing a T/C seizure.
 
The ability to understand and listen to others sincerely not just lip service, it has also made me willing to help people more. The most important I think is that I realise that I am not on my own and compared to others I am extremely lucky.
 
Since I've had epilepsy all my life , it has made me a very determined person in life altogether.
 
As much as I have become a "better" person (essentially for the same reasons others have mentioned above), I am also now more aware of (new?) faults: there are times when I become too focused on my health, I am more conservative and likelier to resist trying something new/unfamiliar/scary than I was before, and while I was always the quieter type sometimes now I have to make myself socialize rather than it just being an assumed thing. Nakamova referred to herself as being a work in progress, and I hope that is what I am as well :)
 
Because I can be moody and overly sensitive to begin with, I really worried about "kepprage" when I was first put on Keppra. It hasn't been *too* big an issue for me fortunately, though I sometimes feel that irrational anger bubbling up. So...anyway, I think being aware of Keppra ' s potential has made me learn to:

1) avoid situations that might cause me to lose my temper as best as I can
2) step back and decide if there's really a good cause for whatever anger I'm feeling, or if it's just the Keppra raising its ugly head.

I admit to still having little temper tantrums, but they are far fewer than they were. (Knock on wood :p)
 
Last edited:
Well, I suppose having E (and a psychotic disorder) has given me perspective. It's hard to say if that's made me a better person, but I have an understanding of what it means to be sick. There have been times where I felt physically fine, but mentally and emotionally I have not been. I think that most people tend to take their health for granted (like a lot of things) and don't understand and can't relate to those who have E. Having a cold or allergies is one thing, but a seizure disorder is very different. It's difficult to know when an attack might come and what will happen. At least for E there are ways to diagnose the disorder with EEGs, but with a mental disorder you don't even have that. When you have a fever, you can measure it with a thermometer. That is not the case with E or with psychosis, but just because you can't measure something doesn't mean you are not well. I would say with E you just have to learn to live your life and take things as they come, otherwise you could spend your life being very sheltered and not experiencing the world.

Now that I'm thinking about it, I think that having E and psychotic disorder has made me more independent and more strong.
 
I believe OP is still in her teenage years right?

I'll let her be happy and think positive because epilepsy RUINED MY LIFE. Dreaded crap illness hit me during senior high school.
 
It certainly made me a lot,lot more understanding off epilepsy,due to someone seizing in the street,as i was conscious and was able to help he was not,talk about role reversal or what?

It showed me how people react in certain situations,,but most off all it made me realise there are others going through this after seeing this in the flesh,compared to just a computer.

I shall never get that image out from my head,which is a good thing as i have no fear off people knowing i have epilepsy,instead off hiding it.
 
Last edited:
as my profile says 'epilepsy has fucking destroyed my life - but it has also shaped the strong person that i am. weird.'

from a young age it's been a constant string of traumas, some due to epilepsy, some not, with the finale of needing brain surgery. had i not woke up on the floor/behind the driver's seat/out of the sauna etc., only to learn my life was destroyed once again, there simply wouldn't have been strength needed. but i did, and it is.

not indicating that i'd be a 'weak' person without having to fight E, but it's nothing comparable. i'm better, because i learned to fight with very big fucking gloves rather than lay down and call defeat.
 
I hate E with all my heart, if effects everybody not just the person having E.

It's like a some bloodthirsty vampire sucking my girl's life's energy and when another seizure comes it's stuffs it all up again.
But, have to go fight and research, try this and try that because there's not much choice.
 
well said, hate is the perfect word.
kudos to you for being there through every step, we could never find the words to explain how much we need, and love you for, that.
 
Yes I feel I have benefited greatly from my condition, in so many ways I don't know where to began.

I guess I'll just start by saying it's taught me to appreciate the simpler things in life :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom