Applying for Epilepsy Action research funding

As an Epileptic i entirely commend Epilepsy Action's efforts to supporting and funding others research towards Epilepsy but what i would really like to see is more interest shown towards sociological research in regards to Epileptic condition. Different types of Epilepsy runs in my family over several generations and i unfortunately pulled the 'short straw' as unlike my mother and other relatives i experience both Tonic Clonic and Myoclonic seizures on a monthly (sometimes even more) basis despite being medicated. I am currently a Postgraduate student at Chelsea studying MA Art Theory however my specialism is in Epilepsy and Visual Culture focusing on the historical foundations behind the still existing stigmas surrounding the Epileptic condition and how this links to its representation and depiction in contemporary (post 1950) cinema and art.

I was first diagnosed with Epilepsy when i was 13 in America when i unexpectedly had a nearly fatal Tonic Clonic seizure in my sleep whilst on holiday with my family, luckily i was staying in the same hotel room as my family. Since then i have, like many others i suspect, experienced all sorts of reception upon openly telling people that i am Epileptic, some negative, some positive. I am not ashamed of my condition, neither do i try to hide it as i am a strong believer that despite it is incredibly unpleasant at times it is part of me and so consequently makes up part of the person i am today. Upon my third year of my BA Fine Art degree at Kingston University i decided to use my experiences as an Epileptic to inspire my art and for my final exhibition explored humour and Epilepsy. I took some of the jokes i'd had made out of my Epileptic condition in the past and asked drama students to dramatize them whilst i photographed the 'scenes.' What i found most fascinating was that upon exhibiting these images a lot of people thought i was being offensive, insensitive and insulting to Epileptics however when they found out (as i kept this private upon exhibiting the photos) that i was Epileptic their reactions quickly changed to 'oh well that's alright for her to do this then!' I am not encouraging others to necessarily use and utilise the sometimes insulting humour related to Epilepsy for art but i found it engaging as an Epileptic how within a split second an individuals opinion can go from disgusted to accepting just upon finding out the artist is Epileptic.

This lead to my Postgraduate research as i wanted to further continue academically researching the possible reasons behind the misconceptions of the Epileptic condition because i think one of the greatest hindrances, learnt from my own experiences and others comments, is the lack of understanding and perhaps what needs to researched more and developed is our understanding of how we can overcome many still existing stigmas and engage and educate people about the Epileptic condition without 'scaring' them.

Hippocrates once said about Epilepsy and seizures that it would, 'Cease to be considered devine the day it is understood.' And quite frankly i couldn't agree more, we will never overcome the stigmas and negative attitudes surrounding the condition until we can research and develop better and more effective means and public campaigns to raise a less stigmatic awareness of the condition. I admittedly have never seen someone have a seizure which is very odd for me however my friends and family have described it to me and it does sound horrifying which is why more needs to be done to remove the 'horrifying' aspect and allow others to comfortably listen and understand what it involves and how to deal with a seizure if they were ever to experience someone having one in their presence. It is by no means an easy task but that is why i am studying and researching it and why there should be more interest and encouragement into this field.

I would be really interested to see what others think as this in turn would help my own research, whether you are yourself Epileptic, know someone who has seizure or even have just seen someone experience a seizure.

Many Thanks,

Laura