Stigma, Noun. A mark of disgrace or infamy: a sign of severe censure or condemnation, regarded as impressed on a person or thing; a ‘brand’. Oxford English Dictionary. In ancient Greece, the verb stizo described tattooing of the skin to mark out those who were the property of others or Read more…
It could be argued I am a pretty fearless person. The medical examinations, treatments, and scrutiny that I have undergone for years has made me tougher and braver than most. I do not say this as a brag, I say this simply as an observation as I have grown up. Read more…
A recurring theme in my book “Sacred Lives: the history, cultural associations and social impact of epilepsy” is the relative invisibility of contemporary “celebrities” to champion their epilepsy and its cause. We should celebrate those who have been prepared to do so but also ask ourselves why their numbers are Read more…
When my daughter, Vivien, went a year without having seizures, my wife and I searched for extracurricular activities. Vivien tried several sports but enjoyed swimming the most. We just wanted her to have some normalcy. There were limited places near our home that offered swimming. The one that looked good Read more…
In this,, our last episode on our current series on Stigma, We go across the world to learn what to do when stigma hits close to home. Our friend, Peter Meyer, tells us of his secret life with Epilepsy and the lengths to which his family went to hide it Read more…
In this episode, we continue our Stigma series to talk through the different types of people that we often encounter when trying to fight against Stigma and give advice on how best to interact with them. Each person is different of course, but we often find that that there are Read more…
In this episode, our host and longtime intractable epilepsy sufferer, David Clifford takes us back to 1983 to tell a story of when his own stigma against others changed the path of his own life. So pop your collar and grab your jellies, because we’re in for an awesome ride. Read more…
This episode was originally released on Purple Day, March 26th, 2020. In it, our host and long-time uncontrolled epilepsy sufferer, David Clifford, describes why he advocates for Epilepsy Awareness and why it is so important to tell people around you that you have seizures. In this episode, we also welcome Read more…
The great enemy of truth is very often not the lie, deliberate, contrived and dishonest, but the myth, persistent, persuasive and unrealistic. John F. Kennedy In 1992, while the world was hypnotized by Billy Ray Cyrus’s Achy Breaky Heart, I had been already diagnosed with Epilepsy for about a year. Read more…