Purple Day 2021: Raising awareness of epilepsy in West Yorkshire
Epilepsy affects around 50,000 people across Yorkshire region
Epilepsy affects around 50,000 people across Yorkshire. This means that almost 1 in 100 people – equivalent to one child in every UK primary school – has epilepsy.
Epilepsy Action have released new research showing that 80% of people don’t know or aren’t sure of how common the condition is.
Today (26th March) is Purple Day, and the group are raising awareness of the condition.
Most people know epilepsy as causing seizures, but Epilepsy Action say the condition is often misunderstood, with the research revealing 68% of people believe that those with health conditions simply need to be more positive and another 1 in 5 people (21%) incorrectly believe that once people get on the right medication, their epilepsy is pretty much cured.
One common myth surrounding epilepsy highlighted by the charity includes over half (54%) of those surveyed being uncertain or incorrectly identifying flashing lights as an automatic seizure trigger, despite photosensitivity affecting only 3% of those with epilepsy. Nearly a quarter (23%) believe epilepsy has no impact on a person's life when they are not having seizures.
Louise Cousins from Epilepsy Action said:
"A lot of people think of epilepsy as the seizures and the flashing lights cause seizures, they actually only cause seizures in a very small number of people.
"But how epilepsy impacts individuals, it just goes way, way beyond that. The physical effects when people have seizures, they could feel very tired and unwell afterwards, the medication can have side effects, some people have constant anxiety about what is they're out and about, will people know how to help them?"