Personal Essay: The Impact Of Epileptic Seizures

Seizures or epilepsy are brain disorders where the person has repeated convulsions over a period of time. They’re episodes of disturbed brain activity that cause changes in attention and behavior. Seizures are considered the most common observed neurological dysfunction in children. They are very sudden intermittent episodes of altered consciousness lasting seconds to minutes and include involuntary tonic (stiffening of muscles) and clonic (altering contraction and relaxation of muscles) movements.

I sat there in my room with tears flowing down my blush pink cheeks. Wondering what was wrong with me, as a salty tear ran along my dried out chapped lips. I thought to myself,” Why am I so miserable? What did I do to deserve this? How am I going to escape this life?” I started to ponder that this was the end of my life, this is how I was going to be, sorrowful. At the lowest point of my life, mother came barging through the door with the look of cavernous concern on her face. She knew that it was time for something to be done, whether I agreed or not.

I awoke in terror. My sister was shaking uncontrollably. Screaming in fear, I jumped out of the bed we were sleeping in to go get my parents. The next thing I knew I was sitting bedside in my sister's hospital room. This is what I experienced when my sister had her first Epileptic Seizure. Although there were many questions and fears running through my mind, the skills and characteristics I possessed allowed me to live life unaffected.

When I was just seven-years old, I was diagnosed with epilepsy. I’d been having small and frequent seizures my entire life without ever knowing of it until one day when I was shelling walnuts in front of the fireplace. Everything I ever knew was being stripped away from me. I no longer had control over any of the muscles in my body, my ability to speak, my actions, nor my sight. All I could do was relax and wait for my brain to catch up and regain control over my body. My life has been changed by epilepsy, but I will never let it control my life.

Epilepsy is a brain disorder in which individuals have recurrent seizures. Seizures can occur in children and adults of any age. There are around 50 million people in the world who has the disorder. Individuals in developing countries are at a higher risk for developing the disorder. Seizures occur due to hyper-excitability and hyper-synchronization of neurons. Action potential transmits messages and it leads to depolarization. When neurons are uncontrollably depolarizes because of hyper-excitability due to too little inhibition, it cause a seizure. Seizures can last from a few seconds to a few minutes. As spontaneously they can develop is also as fast and spontaneous they can end.

Florida International University is an amazing school but affording it is not easy, especially due to my circumstances. My mother is a single mother of four children, me being the oldest, each child five to seven years apart. She is a certified nursing assistant and only has some college completed. My mom had to put her life on hold, sacrificing her education to take care of her children. She was not born in the United States, but in Haiti. After my aunt there is not much family that lives in the United States, instead they live in Haiti. This scholarship would be a blessing, having a positive impact on my education and life. Financially, it will help my pay for the schooling I need to accomplish my goals that I wish to pursue at Florida International University. This scholarship can really be the start to my future and my plans.

When many people think of epilepsy they think of someone falling on the ground shaking and jerking uncontrollably and the thought makes them uncomfortable. Some believe bystanders should put a wooden spoon in the mouth of the one having a seizure and hold them down. These are both misconceptions. Most people think that epilepsy and seizures are the same, this information is also incorrect. Epilepsy is an often misinterpreted disorder. To better understand the disorder and the lives of people with Ep more information and education is needed.

Seizures occur when abnormal signals from the brain and changes the way the body functions. Many people have seizures but they have different effects on them. Some people have a little shaking of their hands and do not lose consciousness, while others have a lot of shaking and do lose consciousness. While seizures have a range of life changing effects for adults, more needs to be focus on children.

After that night I learned just about everything I could about a seizure because I never wanted to have the feeling of not knowing again. So what is a seizure? A seizure is characterized by a sudden electrical abnormality in the brain (Seizures, 20013). Most seizures last from as little as a few seconds to about two minutes (seizures, 2013). There are multiple types of seizures that a person can have. There are generalized seizures that are characterized by starting to start in all parts of the brain and impossible to pinpoint the origin of the abnormality because of the rapid spread (generalized, 2012). The different types of this include; absence (petit mal) seizures, that is also known as a starring spell and can look like day dreaming; tonic

Seizure disorders, according to the Mayo Clinic (2015), affect approximately 1 in 26 people in the United States. Persistent, or chronic, seizures result from a condition called epilepsy, a neurological disorder of the central nervous system. It can affect anyone regardless of age, but is more common during early childhood and after age 60. Given the number of people that seizure disorders, such as epilepsy, affect, it becomes helpful to gain a foundational understanding of the disease, including some of the causes, symptoms, and treatments available.

Going to college has been a dream of mine growing up. I am the first ever in my family to go to college but figuring out how to pay for it has been a challenge. I desire to achieve my academic and career goals and this scholarship can help me succeed in my journey.

Epilepsy is not what you think. It is a complicated disease, a disease that doesn't just affect one type of person or age. Over fifty million men, women, and children cope with this disease daily. Epilepsy is a mysterious disease to those who are unfamiliar and uneducated about the disease. Many people have preconceived notions about Epileptics. Researching the topic thoroughly, the five preconceived notions I explored have been proven to be false.

Epilepsy, also called seizure disorder, chronic brain disorder that briefly interrupts the normal electrical activity of the brain to cause seizures, characterized by a variety of symptoms including uncontrolled movements of the body, disorientation or confusion, sudden fear, or loss of consciousness. Epilepsy may result from a head injury, stroke, brain tumor, lead poisoning, genetic conditions, or severe infections like meningitis or encephalitis. In over 70 percent of cases no cause for epilepsy were identified. About 1 percent of the world population, or over 2 million people, are diagnosed with epilepsy.

Epilepsy can happen to anyone of any age. The largest(47%) percent of people, developing epilepsy for the first time, being children from birth to nine years of age. The next largest age group would be ten year olds to ninteen year olds at 30%. The least amount of first time seizures comes from the forty plus age group. (According to EFA publications) Over 2.5 million people suffer from epilepsy. The international league against epilepsy describes a seizure as an alternative term for "epileptic attack". Seizures vary in there length and severity. A "tonic-clonic" seizure can last for one to seven minutes. " Absence seizures usually last for a few seconds. However, complex partial seizure" may last for thirty seconds or two

Epilepsy is a condition in which a person has two or more seizures affecting a variety of mental and physical functions. Epilepsy is one of the oldest conditions of the human race. Epilepsy Awareness is important because Epilepsy is a widely misunderstood disorder. The reason that Epilepsy has been misunderstood has been mainly due to research not being conducted until the middle of the nineteenth century. There are six main types of seizures and many treatments that can assist an epileptic patient. Many facts and myths exist about a person who has Epilepsy, which, is why it is an important disorder to understand. A person living with Epilepsy can typically have a normal life after seeking medical advice from doctors.