Things you should never say to someone that has epilepsy

• "Make sure they don't swallow their tongue."
• "Can't you make them snap out of it?"
• "How come you peed your pants?" 
• "Quit daydreaming!"
• "Are you drunk/stoned?"
• "It could be worse. At least you don't have grand mal seizures."
• "You should be put in a mental hospital."
• Since everyone has different triggers, saying "If you can be ok with flashing lights or listening to music, then you don't have epilepsy" should be avoided. 
• Don't tell children, "The paramedics are taking him/her to the hospital because they're going to die." They're probably already scared enough.
• "Is it contagious?"
• "You're demonic!"
• "But you look normal."
• "You're just having a bad day/going through PMS. You'll get over it."
• "All you want is sympathy, don't you?"
• "If you took your medicines, maybe this wouldn't be happening!"
• "That's life! You have a condition and just have to deal with it."
• "Are you retarded?"
• "You can't be left alone in the house because of your seizures."
• Don't ask, "Did you take your medicine?" or "Are you sure you're ok?" constantly.
• "Was it a big seizure or a little seizure?" or "How bad was it?" Since when the hell has there ever been such a thing as a good seizure?

And there you have it!

4

Being afraid that you'll lose friends if you admit that you have epilepsy.

For the longest time, I never admitted to my friend Carter that I had epilepsy. Since he was so young back then, I felt it would freak him out. But as he got older, I felt scared that if I did say anything, he wouldn't want to be my friend anymore.
Eventually I decided to admit it to him and thank goodness he was understanding!
The point to this is, if the person really was your friend, they wouldn't desert you just for that.

-jessi