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Many relatives of people with epilepsy are naturally concerned as to what may happen during a seizure if they are not present to assist. We have known this anxiety carried to extremes. One of our patients, an epileptic woman of 30, was still sharing her parents’ bedroom, as they were concerned that she might come to harm during a nocturnal seizure, even though she had had none for 15 years! In practice, harm resulting from seizures is exceptionally rare, but there are a few sensible precautions.

Epilepsy as a social weapon-Families must be aware of ways in which epilepsy can be ‘used’. The child or young person with epilepsy, knowing of his parents’ anxiety about him, may manipulate them into granting him unreasonable requests. They may give in to feeling sorry for his difficulties, or they may feel that they should avoid an emotional upset that might precipitate a seizure. There is no reason why a child with epilepsy should not experience the same discipline as his siblings, who will themselves become jealous and unruly if they feel that one member of the family is being spoiled.

The other side of the coin is that parents may use the threat of epilepsy as a means of controlling behaviour which they otherwise cannot control. Examples we have met include limiting the hours of television watched, and the lateness of the hour by which an adolescent with epilepsy must return home.

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