Understanding epilepsy

If something suddenly disrupts the network, (brain infections like meningitis, trauma, birth defects, tumors, drug abuse, developmental disorders, stroke, dementia, genetics, and more) nerve cells start misfiring and create a huge surge of electrical activity in the brain. This is a seizure. Some people refer to electrical storms as brainstorms.

There are two main groups of epilepsy, and each has multiple types of seizures. With generalized epilepsy, seizures start in both sides of the brain at once. A tonic clonic would be a good example. In focal epilepsy, seizures start in one side of the brain, but can also spread to other areas. In some cases, doctors cannot determine where the seizures begin.

Depending on where seizures form, the surge in electrical activity can cause strange behaviors like screaming, laughing, convulsing, staring, jumbled speech, déjà vu, jamais vu, funny tastes, sounds and smells, undressing, running out the door, and more.

Not all seizures are diagnosed as epilepsy

It is important to note that epilepsy is not a mental illness, and not everyone who has a seizure will develop epilepsy. It often takes multiple tests, including an EEG, which detects electrical activity in the brain. Video-EEG testing is done in a hospital Epilepsy Monitoring Unit. An EEG helps doctors determine if seizures are “nonepileptic.” These are caused by psychological issues, not abnormal electrical activity.

Brainstorm aims to help audiences with understanding epilepsy, and builds empathy around this condition which affects 1 in 26 Americans.

Data shared on this page comes from the Epilepsy Foundation.