Liz Smith, Scottish Conservative MSP for Mid Scotland & Fife has backed calls for action to be taken in Scottish schools to help address the social stigma associated with epilepsy, which is estimated to affects the lives of 54,000 people with this condition in Scotland.
Liz Smith, Scottish Conservative MSP for Mid Scotland & Fife said:
“Epilepsyaffects the lives of so many people of all ages in Scotland with the latest estimations suggesting that one person in every 97 has epilepsy. For the vast majority of people managing their condition forms part of their normal day to day lives. However, it is perhaps young people who may face the greatest challenge in normalising their condition not due to the medical challenges they may face but through the stigma and discrimination they may feel.
“On a personal note I must say that the young people who I have met with epilepsy over my years as a teacher and as an MSP have all been wonderful outgoing individuals who through good communication with schools and a knowledgeable and supportive group of friends have not seen their condition hold them back in education, sport or in their social development. However, it is clear that with one in two respondents reporting feeling that others treated them differently after they had revealed that they have the condition this is not the universal experience of young people growing up with Epilepsy in Scotland today.
“It is clear that a great deal of work still needs to be done to change public attitudes and raise awareness of Epilepsy. I was particularly concerned that a report from a survey of 19,441 adolescents in the general population specifically looking at perceptions of epilepsy, found that 31% were not sure if epilepsy was contagious and that three quarters of the respondents believed that children and adolescents with epilepsy were or might be more likely to get picked on or bullied than others.
“It is worrying that evidence points towards epilepsy being perceived negatively by teenagers. An assessment of adolescent perception of chronic conditions found that: epilepsy was also perceived to have a more negative social impact, particularly on behaviour, honesty, popularity, adeptness at sports, and fun; significantly more adolescents expressed reluctance to befriend peers with epilepsy, both from their own and their perceived parental perspectives; and the most common reason given for reluctance to befriend a peer with epilepsy was fear of what to do if a seizure occurred. This is an area which I hope can in time be addressed and that calls by the Epilepsy Consortium Scotland for local authorities to consider making epilepsy awareness a compulsory element of all first aid training is a good starting point.
“I very much welcome the Stamp Out Stigma awareness-raising campaign for secondary pupils developed by Members of the Scottish Youth Parliament in conjunction with Epilepsy Connections, Education Scotland, Scottish Epilepsy Initiative and Young Epilepsy. I hope that the campaign will be successful and we will reach a point where the stigma which many young people with epilepsy is removed.”