Chapter 4 Awareness of Epilepsy and mental health

 

I watched a documentary on a late 70s band called Joy Division which became New Order in the early to mid-80s. Ian Curtis used to be the lead singer of Joy Division who suffered major Depression and as time went on major Epilepsy.  I know it's heading towards Xmas but this documentary couldn't help but inspire me to write a short report and the awareness of Mental Health and Epilepsy.

This made me think that the illnesses and conditions Ian was facing may have brought on his suicide to end his life at such a young age of 23 back in May 1980, which were sad there was any awareness, education, help or support back then, therefore the way things are going with the funding today for Mental health, Epilepsy, other illnesses, conditions, etc the fear is that we could be going back to how things were in the 70s, 80s and before that. We also need those of us who face these illnesses, and conditions we need to raise awareness and education those people who don't mainly for those who have been involved in the lives who do.


Ian Curtis was a famous pop star he must have felt he was finding it hard to hold down his career, also may have felt dependent on his band members, other workers around, family and friends. In the documentary, a band member or worker said when Ian saw the doctor about his Epilepsy, his doctor said to get to bed early, which wasn't an easy one when being in the pop business, someone else said if only Ian even said for him and the band to take some time off, where I think what this person felt Ian meant that stress was getting to Ian. 

 

 

 

How can we support people facing the same or similar things in the future?

Funding and raising money for those in these situations to help them to have equal lives with other people as much as possible.

Educate and raise awareness of as many illnesses, conditions, disabilities, etic as possible to those in their lives.
We can never force anyone to tell us, someone, where, etic how someone is feeling and why. Sometimes for some people, there are no real reasons and answers really. Whether someone has nothing or everything, no one should be misunderstood for being ungrateful in life. It doesn't necessarily mean we are ungrateful to what's around us only how we feel inside.
The tricky thing is that it's understandable that we don't want others to know our business or and we are careful who we tell what and trust is a very hard thing even though a lot of services have to work around confidently but all the same it is understandable how many of us don't comfortable going for counselling, emotional support etc.
 It's not anyone's right to force information out of people but all the same suffering in silence doesn't do us any good either, even more concerning if or when there's not a reason we feel as we do. When I had my break down in 1997 which

was pretty much when counselling and emotional support services became possible I refused to try at first I was worried that others would have thought I was out of my mind and going round the bend, even though I told a lot of people how I was feeling but then I had a lot of people telling me I just had to get on with life, which I understand I guess thinking about now not many people knew what to say to me other than that but it was and wasn't making a positive difference in life. When I picked up the courage to go for counselling, emotional support etic I found, I wasn't of course what to do but empowered to a point where I was telling my counsellor at the time what I was going to do to move my life forward and how which was that I got myself into writing poetry, but other people find other ways to move forward. No one can force anyone to do anything but there's help no one must suffer in silence. However,'  funding needs to be put into these services because the worrying risk is that more people will be suffering in silence and more risks of people taking their own lives, which the numbers in that are high enough already we need to try and bring the numbers down or none at all.

Epilepsy, Anxiety, Pressager, Depression and Stress.

 

Stress and pressure are and always has been the worst killer of all for everyone but if you have certain disabilities etc, it is hard for a person to cope with. However,’ each person naturally copes differently to the other. Bearing in mind that stress plays a lot on a lot of people’s minds, which seems easy for you but the end of the world to them. When people are stressed this is a sense of worry for them and even others around them. some people some things will not leave their minds.

Not in everyone’s case despite of the stress they face and how they cope with it, they still manage to live long lives but sadly not always as I just said not everyone’s cases. Some things that people may face others may say move on, get over it, which is not that simple, only they know the person who is putting them through what they are putting them through, which may be why they are finding it hard to get over whatever the problem may be or they may not get over whatever at, which is likely to cause them a lot of anxiety and depression and even risks of suicide attempts etc. This cause is emotional issues such as relationship, marriage break – ups, death etc. This can be hard whether you have disabilities etc or not but then you need as twice as much support if you. It is enough to deal with the general day to day life such as paying bills that people tend to worry about, for example, therefore how would you help people with disabilities and other problems, through these issues? These stresses can make even a healthy person ill, let alone a person who faces disabilities etc. This may make them angrier, more stressed, and more depressed than other people.

 

In many ways panic attacks could be quite an like epilepsy, for those who face these issues with their health, the stresses of life are even worse for them. As we all know there is no easy way to avoid stress. However, most people with disabilities etc may be unaware of what may have happened for a problem to get out of hand so many things may be unintentional. I guess in many cases it can be hard to tell if someone is having a seizure or a panic attack but many say non–epilepsy seizures are fairly similar, which may be where ECG scans etc may come in, where you health professionals may need to research.

If seizures get awfully bad or if epilepsy is mistaken for panic attacks, there can be a risk of people taking no medication or mistakenly overdosing themselves.

When I was about eighteen when I was working and training at the riding stables over Wales. The riding instructor Miss Coyne thought I was having seizures, so she got the doctor over Wales at the time to put me back on the tablets, he put me on Tegretol, I know I wasn’t having seizures but Miss Coyne was saying otherwise.