March is Epilepsy Awareness Month

Epilepsy Awareness Day, also known as Purple Day since lavender is the color for Epilepsy, is an international holiday that is dedicated to increasing awareness about epilepsy worldwide and it is celebrated on March 26. To spread more awareness of the condition, there is also an Epilepsy Awareness Month, November.

The concept of Purple Day, or Epilepsy Awareness Day, was initiated by a 9-year-old named Cassidy Megan and was motivated by her own struggle with epilepsy. The Epilepsy Association of Nova Scotia helped to develop Cassidy’s idea, and the first Purple Day event was held on March 26, 2008. Epilepsy Awareness Month, on the other hand, has been celebrated since 1969, and in 2003, the US Congress confirmed that November would be Epilepsy Awareness Month. The campaign has grown rapidly and is now celebrated across the world.

Epilepsy, also known as Seizure Disorder (but seizures and epilepsy are not the same things), is a neurological disorder marked by sudden recurrent episodes of sensory disturbance, loss of consciousness, or convulsions, associated with abnormal electrical activity in the brain. Epilepsy is the fourth most common neurological disorder and affects people of all ages, but a large proportion of children who have epilepsy will grow out of it by adulthood.

Most people with epilepsy live perfectly normal lives and do most things everyone else can do, with the help of simple safety measures where appropriate. Epilepsy is not contagious. Many people with epilepsy still say the biggest problem they face is dealing with the attitude of others. Ignorance, stigma, discrimination, and fear are still major problems.