The History of Epilepsy - Stigmas, Misunderstandings, and Eventually… Progress
As a mother to a child with epilepsy, I’m all too aware of the stigmas attached to it. In fact, I even wrote an article on the subject which included all the misconceptions my daughter has been subjected to since her diagnosis.
But I’m also aware that the stigmas surrounding this condition used to be a lot worse and more widespread. And I’m thankful everyday that my daughter lives in a time where epilepsy is better understood, easier to treat, and less isolating to have. Especially in the United States.
So today, I thought it would be interesting to take a look at the history of epilepsy in order to see just how far our society has come in terms of learning about it.
Epilepsy In Ancient Times - The First Mentions of Epilepsy…
Mesopotamia -
Epilepsy has likely been around as long as humans have, but the earliest accounts of it come from 4000 years ago and were found on an ancient tablet. This tablet was found in Mesopotamia and seems to describe a tonic-clonic seizure.
It mentions a man whose hands and feet were “tense”, his neck turned to the left, eyes wide open, and having “froth” flowing from his mouth “without him having any consciousness”.
Babylon -
The next mentions of epilepsy that we’ve found come from the Babylonian’s Sakikko. Which basically means “all diseases” and is a set of forty tablets that the Babylonians wrote in order to keep records of various ailments they knew of.
Epilepsy is mentioned on the twenty-sixth tablet in the series, and is actually described with a surprising amount of detail. They talked about a few different seizure types, although all they knew about them at the time was that some looked different from others.
And they even added the expected outcome of each seizure, based on what they had noted in the past. For instance, the seizure type they described that we now know as status epilepticus was said to result in negative outcomes. While other seizure types were listed to have slightly better odds.
Egypt -
Epilepsy was also noted in Ancient Egypt, with the first mentions coming from around 1700 BC and being found in the Edwin Smith Surgical Papyrus. And actually, the ancient Egyptians provided the first account of epilepsy being caused by a brain injury.
Because, among their accounts of epilepsy, was one that described a man who had a large wound to the head. According to the writings, when the wound was touched it would cause the man to “shudder exceedingly”.
Other Accounts -
There were other ancient mentions of epilepsy as well, such as in China and Greece. But we’ll touch on those more in the next section, because they’re more related to treatments and theories than simply accounts of seizures.
Ancient Epilepsy Theories and Treatments - Religious and Physical…
Originally, most people were under the impression that seizures and epilepsy were caused by demonic possession. And this was the reasoning that was listed in many of the ancient texts we just talked about, such as the tablet from Mesopotamia and the Sakikko from Bayblon.
For this reason, many ancient treatments had to do with spiritual ceremonies such as exorcisms. And furthermore, individuals with epilepsy were often feared and isolated by their communities. Sometimes they were even abused and persecuted.
Hippocrates Offered A Less Religious Explanation -
Around 500 BC… epilepsy was known in Greece as the “sacred disease” and was still feared by the public, because of the reasons we just talked about. But a Greek physician by the name of Hippocrates actually proposed a less frightening theory regarding epilepsy, and believed it had nothing to do with demons or possession.
Instead, he theorized that it was often caused by head trauma. Since, in most of the cases he had seen, the seizures started after some sort of injury to the brain. And in addition to that, he also suggested that the reason for epilepsy may even be hereditary in some cases.
So, rather than assume the condition was brought on by anything religious, he directly related epilepsy to the brain and studied it as such. And he was one of the first to do so!
He even provided us with one of the earliest mentions of “auras” when he created a clinical description of seizures. Stating that they presented as unilateral motor signs which were usually accompanied by an aura. He said that individuals could use the aura to their advantage in order to get out of the public eye before seizing.
In terms of treatment, he thought that epilepsy could perhaps be treated in the same way as other conditions at the time. But he did note that once the condition became “chronic” that it was too late for a cure. (Although we now know, of course, that this is untrue.)
Sadly though, Hippocrates’s more scientific approach to epilepsy wouldn't be widely accepted until much later.
Aristotle Also Had More Scientific View Of Epilepsy -
Following in the footsteps of Hippocrates, Aristotle didn’t attribute seizures to demons either. But he did have a slightly different theory in mind than the one we just talked about.
Rather than connecting epilepsy with head trauma, Aristotle started to connect seizures with sleep. Albeit, not accurately…
You see, Aristotle believed that sleep was caused by eating food. And more specifically, that food consumption caused evaporations that would rise and fall within the veins and result in the sleeping/waking cycle.
He thought that epilepsy might be caused by those same evaporations.
And In China, They Had More Holistic Approaches To Treatment -
Epilepsy has been documented in China ever since 770-221 BC, but unlike others in these ancient times, their approach was much kinder. In fact, they used their core beliefs in Yin Yang Wu Xing to treat the condition.
This included things like herbs, massages, and of course, acupuncture.
Epilepsy From Medieval Times To The Mid-20th Century - Punishments As Treatments
Medieval Times -
Obviously during the Middle Ages, the misconception that epilepsy was caused by possession was still dominant. And for this reason, the same religious methods were used to treat it
17th Century and Beyond -
But then, during the 17th century (specifically in Europe), epilepsy started to more officially be accepted as a brain disorder for the first time in history. And society’s perception began to change slightly, although more work to understand the condition was definitely needed.
For instance, you might think that recognizing seizures as being caused by something physical would cause more sympathetic treatments to arise… but sadly, this wasn’t the case. In fact, it was almost the reverse.
You see, because seizures were no longer being seen as such a religious occurrence, some people began faking them on purpose for various reasons.
Some would use it as a way to beg for money, food, etc. Others would feign having a seizure while their partner in crime pickpocketed the distracted crowd. And a few would even use fake seizures to try and evade punishment.
But this not only garnered punishment for the people who faked having epilepsy, but also unfair treatment to those that actually did. Mostly because physicians at the time had such a limited knowledge of epilepsy, that they couldn’t tell who was telling the truth.
And to weed out who was lying, they resorted to threatening patients with painful procedures and operations in order to scare them into telling the truth. But they often ended up using these painful treatments even if the person continued to show signs of epilepsy.
One of the more severe “treatments” was to castrate men suffering from epilepsy, because seizures were thought (at the time) to be caused by masturbation. And this false belief actually lasted for almost 100 years before it was disproven!
Leading Up To The Mid-20th Century -
Although more research had been done in regards to epilepsy by this point in time, those with the condition still continued to be heavily ostracized through the first portion of the 1900s.
In the United States, for instance, it was illegal in some states for people with epilepsy to get married. These laws were in place to prevent epileptic individuals from reproducing. And some states even took it a step further, promoting sterilizing patients with epilepsy.
Aside from this, there were also laws at the time that gave many public facilities the ability to legally turn away people with epilepsy. And these laws largely stayed in place until the 1970s!
Epilepsy In Modern Times - More Rights and Understanding
Towards the later half of the 20th century, positive steps were made. Several organizations were created to promote more understanding of epilepsy. And the World Health Organization even took up an initiative to reduce the stigmas surrounding the condition.
But although these things helped, there’s still more work that needs to take place… even to this day. As people with epilepsy continue to face problems that many of us would never think about.
They struggle at times to have access to the same health insurance as the rest of us, as well as life insurance. Plus, many employers tend to turn away people with epilepsy even when it’s not necessary medically. So those with the condition often have to tailor their careers around their epilepsy, even if their seizures are controlled.
And as I’ve covered before on this blog, even despite the steps made to educate people on epilepsy, many stigmas remain to this day. Meaning that people with epilepsy are still rejected socially in some scenarios.
Plus, in some countries, the misconceptions of possession among other things are still believed. So for individuals suffering from seizures in those places, the outcome can be even worse.
Conclusion -
Again, I’d like to say that I’m so thankful for the steps that have been made so far in terms of epilepsy research and understanding. Because it’s made my daughter’s life easier in many ways, both medically and personally, than it would’ve been had she been born in a different time
But I will always be an advocate for more education surrounding this condition, because there’s still so far to go! And people with epilepsy deserve the exact same treatment as anyone else.
Thank you so much for reading this article, and as always, I’d love to hear your thoughts about this topic in the comments!
Here are my sources for this article, in case you want to check them out as well…
Sources -
https://www.epilepsy.com/stories/bringing-epilepsy-out-dark-ages-diagnosis-eeg
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