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23 - The impact of epilepsy on relationships

from Part VI - Living well with epilepsy

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 November 2009

Patricia A. Gibson
Affiliation:
Department of Neurology, Bowman Gray School of Medicine, Wake Forest University, Medical Center Blvd, Winston-Salem, NC 27157, USA
Martha J. Morrell
Affiliation:
Columbia University, New York
Kerry L. Flynn
Affiliation:
Columbia-Presbyterian Cancer Center, New York
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Summary

For there is but one veritable problem – the problem of human relations. We forget that there is no hope or joy except in human relations.

antoine de saint exuperyWind, Sand and Stars

Patricia Gibson is at Wake Forest University School of Medicine in the Department of Neurology. She has provided information and referral services for people with epilepsy through the Epilepsy Information Service at Bowman Grey Epilepsy Center. She has also served as an advocate for people with epilepsy and has been deeply involved in educating nurses and social workers about epilepsy and the medical and social services helpful to people with epilepsy and their families. Early on, Ms Gibson recognized the special needs of women with epilepsy and organized one of the first national courses on this topic. In this chapter, she writes about how epilepsy may impact the important relationships in a woman's life – parents, partners, children, and friends. Ms Gibson offers practical advice to make certain that epilepsy remains something that a woman has, and never becomes something a woman is.

MJM

Epilepsy can have a significant medical, social, psychological, and financial impact. It can upset the equilibrium of the family system, affecting everyone in some way. Because epilepsy often begins in childhood, the patient's formative years may be drastically altered by the reactions of the family, school, and peer group to this disorder. A chronic illness of any type has significant impact on the lives of all the people it touches.

Type
Chapter
Information
Women with Epilepsy
A Handbook of Health and Treatment Issues
, pp. 237 - 248
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2003

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References

Bradshaw J., Healing the Shame that Binds You. Health Communications, Inc., Deerfield, FL, 1988
de Saint Exupery A. Wind, sand and stars. Reynolds & Hetchcock, New York, 1939
Ford D, Gibson P, Dreifuss F. Psychosocial considerations in childhood epilepsy. In Pediatric Neurology: Classification and Management of Seizures in the Child, ed. F Dreifuss. John Wright, PSG Inc., Boston, 1983, pp. 277–95
Goldin G, Margolin R. The psychosocial aspects of epilepsy. In Epilepsy Rehabilitation, ed. GN Wright. Little, Brown, Boston, 1975, pp. 66–79
Hemingway Ernest. A Farewell to Arms. Scribner, New York, 1929
Lechtenberg R. Epilepsy and the Family. Harvard Press, Cambridge, MA, 1984
Lechtenberg, R, Akner, L.Psychologic adaptation of children to epilepsy in a parent. Epilepsia 1984; 25(1):40–5CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Meyer DJ, Vadasy P, Fewell RR. Living with a Brother or Sister with Special Needs: a Book for Sibs. University of Washington Press, Seattle, 1985
Shain M. When Lovers are Friends. J. B. Lippincott, New York, 1978
Trimble M. Women and Epilepsy. Wiley, New York, 1991
Usisken S, Goldin G, Perry S. L. The Rehabilitation of the Young Epileptic. Lexington Books, Lexington, MA, 1971

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