Pippa was diagnosed with epilepsy at the age of 14 after having a seizure at school when she was 12.

She shares her experiences, the bullying she faced and how she is eager to raise awareness of epilepsy.

I felt very alone and lonely at the time, all my childhood had been robbed from me in a second and there was nothing I could do about it.

Also, I felt suicidal for a while too but after heaps of support I got back on my feet and I don’t feel any of that negativity anymore.

I have tonic clonic seizures which affect me massively no matter how big or small the seizure may be.

I have memory loss and feel tired and drowsy all the time and sometimes it takes me weeks to recover fully.

Bullying

I have faced so much bullying and feeling like a burden to everyone.

I have been getting comments about how I should die and how I’m a break dancing bitch referring to my seizures and due to my epilepsy some people left me out of gatherings and parties.

My epilepsy has affected my studies especially in high school, every time I had a seizure I always had to take time away from school and it didn’t help at all.

In high school I got support from only five teachers, they were the only ones who understood me and they deserve to be recognised for that too, two teachers unfortunately told me I was faking my seizures.

The hidden impacts of epilepsy

Epilepsy is absolutely much more than seizures. It feels like your isolated and it’s painful sometimes and people need to understand you better especially if it’s one of those bad days you’re having too.

Epilepsy has stopped me from becoming independent more than anything.

I probably will never get the experience of driving a car and jobs for me might be very limiting as not many employers want someone who is disabled.

The stigma of epilepsy is hard because some people do get work promotions who do have epilepsy but for some people like me they do get discrimination.

I was discriminated against last year because my local theatre director didn’t want a disabled person on their team, the director didn’t know me.

One piece of advice that I’d give to anyone who has been diagnosed with epilepsy is to not let it stop you, you can achieve your dreams and goals.

My blog has made me and others feel like they’re not alone anymore and every time I post it makes me feel good inside about myself and others too.

If you would like to share your story of living with epilepsy, please email our Communications Officer, David at dcoates@epilepsyscotland.org.uk