VERNON – With Thursday marking world epilepsy day, an Okanagan man is sharing his story is hopes of dispelling some of the myths surrounding the condition,
Michael Cozby has had epilepsy most of his life. The 32-year-old takes more than a dozen pills every day to control it, but still suffers about five seizures every week.
Epilepsy is a condition that causes a person to have recurring seizures, caused by excessive discharges of electrical impulses in the brain. There are around 20 different types of seizures, and while some people with epilepsy only have them occasionally, others can have up to a hundred seizures a day.
The condition is far more common than most people realize. There are about 40,000 living with the condition in B.C., according to the Epilepsy Society of B.C., making it more common than Parkinson’s disease or multiple sclerosis.
“A lot of people think when they hear seizure they go into convulsions all the time and that is not true, there are different kinds of seizures,” says Cozby.
Cozby suffers from what are called complex partial seizures, which are defined by brief episodes of unresponsiveness.
“Some are in your sleep, some you just walk and don’t know where you are going. Sometimes you just stare into space and look stoned and drunk and people assume those things and to me that is sort of, you are judging someone without understanding what is going on, “ he says.
Cozby hopes by sharing his story, it not only helps eliminate the stigma but also puts the topic of epilepsy at the forefront to help raise more awareness.
“Most of time people with epilepsy isolate themselves because they are embarrassed,” says Cozby.
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