How to Explain Epilepsy to Children

Epilepsy can be a very scary disease; the thought that at any moment in time the person with epilepsy can experience a seizure is frightening, but especially so for children. Whether your child suffers from seizures, or another family member they are close to does, an epileptic event can be traumatizing to a child. Knowing how to explain this disease properly to a child will help to lessen his fears and keep him from being paranoid about what the disease is and what causes it.

Things You'll Need

• soft pillow or similar object

Show More

Instructions

• 1

  Explain to the child that epilepsy is a disease of the brain where the electrical signals can fire off in a wrong or an unexpected way and cause a break in communication with the nerve cells. This results in body spasms or reactions called seizures. If the epilepsy sufferer is a child, tell them that about two-thirds of children who suffer from epilepsy grow out of it and lead perfectly normal lives.

• 2

  Tell your child that epilepsy is not contagious, it does not mean the person is mentally ill, usually does not get worse as the person ages, does not decrease a person's intelligence, and that seizures can happen from many other diseases also.

• 3

  Relate to your child that in about half of the sufferers, epilepsy is caused by heredity, brain tumors, diseases, trauma during childbirth or because of an accident, strokes or many other medical conditions according to the website kidshealth.org. Tell your child that seizures may result in severe jerking spasms or just staring into space for a few minutes and that rarely does the person remember anything about the seizure.

• 4

  Show your child how to react if he is in the room with a person who goes into a seizure. Explain that he can help best by preventing the person from hurting himself by helping him to lie down, or moving away any objects that could injure him. Relay that normally seizures last only a few seconds or up to several minutes. They can help by putting something soft under the person's head, or by moving his face to the side so that he will not choke. Instruct them never to try to stick anything in the person's mouth or try to restrain him.

• 5

  Explain that no one leads a perfect life and that we all have problems to deal with that may not be apparent to others. Having epilepsy does not mean the person cannot enjoy life and have fun. She just needs to always ride horses, swim or go bike riding with a partner, and needs to wear a helmet during horseback or bicycle rides, just as everyone should for safety. Sufferers should not shower unless there is someone in the home at the time, and small children should not bathe without supervision.