Managing or Coping With Your Epilepsy Through Social Support
No matter who you are, there will be times in your life when you will need the emotional, physical, economic and/or social support of friend(s) and/or family member(s). The following section will provide with some brief information about how social support can help you more effectively cope with epilepsy.
(Thanks to Lisa Brown, Epilepsy London and Area Newsletter)
What is a "support network" and how can it benefit me?
[From Epilepsy London & Area newsletter, article written by Lisa Brown]
A "support network" - a "chain of interconnected people" -- can include those friends and/or family members with whom you have close and trusting relationships. These individuals can often provide you with the kind of love, support, and empathy that you need in order to help you cope with and manage the issues and concerns that arise as an effect of your experiencing epilepsy.
How can I determine what kind of support I need?
In order for you to know what kinds of support and assistance would be most useful for you, it is important that you clearly identify and recognize your own "internal needs" - for example, intellectual, emotional and physical needs -- and "external" needs which includes things that you need from your environment, such transportation, medical care, employment, income, child care assistance, etc.
How can education help my friends and/or family members be more supportive of me?
In order for your family and friends to be truly supportive of you, and to help assist you to cope more effectively with epilepsy, it is important that they become more educated about epilepsy. By gaining more accurate information about epilepsy, through the educational programs and services provided by Epilepsy Toronto, your friends and/or family members will be more able to respond to seizures, when and if they do occur, in a more sensitive, non-judgmental and open-minded manner. This non-judgmental acceptance by your peers and/or family members can help to increase your sense of self-acceptance and self-esteem.
Right now, I don't feel as though my friends and/or family members are being that supportive of me. What can I do build a more effective support network?
When people feel as though they are not receiving the kind of support and assistance that they need from others, it is common for them to feel 'down' or hopeless about their life situation. But even if, after determining that you have realistic and fair expectations of your support network, you recognize that your friends and/or family members are truly not taking the time to be empathic to, and genuinely concerned about, your own needs, it isimportant to remember that there are things that you can do to help build a more effective and responsive support network.
When building and developing your support network, it is important that you strive towards being as creative and resourceful as possible. Indeed, if you re-focus your efforts and energies, you may often realize that there are indeed others out there, whether in your own life, or within the social services and other organizations, such as Epilepsy Toronto, who do have the capacity and are willing to help provide you with social, emotional, physical and/or financial support through your most difficult of times.
Indeed, organizations, like Epilepsy Toronto, offer a number of beneficial programs and services to assist you in coping with epilepsy including: individual, couple's, and family counselling; mutual aid support group counselling; educational and informational support services; and employment consultancy services.
Sometimes, I feel as though I am being discriminated against because I have epilepsy and/or because others know that I have epilepsy. My friends and/or family will tell me that, if I only took more initiative and tried harder, I'd be more successful in life. Could this be true?
Prejudice and discrimination against people with epilepsy is a highly unfortunate reality in our society. Although each person's specific situation is unique, there are a number of persons with epilepsy who do indeed face similar barriers in accessing the resources and opportunities that may have the potential to substantially enhance their quality of life.
Although, at times, these barriers are obvious to the person being disadvantaged by them, in many cases, such barriers are relatively "invisible" and hidden, so that others who are not similarly affected may doubt that you are actually experiencing such discrimination. Often times, they may focus on what it is that you're doing wrong, rather than looking at what's happening around you, within society, that may be contributing to your problems.
Furthermore, because it is often so difficult to 'prove' discrimination, because of its hidden nature, this can lead to the person who is experiencing such barriers, blaming him/herself for his life problems and lowering his/her self-esteem, rather than recognizing how these barriers are adversely affecting his/her life.
Is there anything that can be done to help myself and others overcome discrimination?
Organizations such as Epilepsy Toronto however are working together with our members to help all persons with epilepsy overcome these barriers through providing advocacy and support to those individuals who believe they have been discriminated against. In addition to advocating and supporting individuals in their specific experiences of discrimination (such as in the workplace, school, etc.), Epilepsy Toronto is also working along with its members to advocate for more government funding for programs and services that can benefit as many individuals as possible who experience epilepsy.
By joining Epilepsy Toronto, you will have the opportunity to meet other individuals with epilepsy and work with them, and with Epilepsy Toronto, as a united and powerful group, to protest and work towards reducing the systemic barriers each of you is similarly experiencing.
At some point, you might also want to think about joining together with other social movements comprised of individuals who experience prejudice and discrimination based on other forms of disability and/or based on other aspects of their identity (e.g., race, gender, sexual orientation, age, class, etc.).
Thus, although discrimination is a complex problem that cannot be quickly resolved, it is important to remember that, with each small step that you and others collectively take, you are helping to move closer towards the ultimate goal of positive and progressive social change for those who experience societal injustices. |
