Cultural stigmas&epilepsy

Hey e

Hi everyone! It’s Nidhi again! One of the biggest things for me, as I go through the epilepsy journey, is having my Indian friends and family look down upon it.

Since I started having seizures, I couldn’t tell anyone I had epilepsy unless it was necessary. The reason for that? It would “ruin” our family image. I know, right!?

The Indian community is small, but words spread like wildfire where I live, and some of these aunties can be ruthless. My grandmother had always taught me to keep it a secret and that no one except my friends needed to know about it. Over time, the group of people that knew about my seizure grew.

In an Indian family, epilepsy is one of those diseases that just isn’t accepted as what it is. My grandmother refuses to believe there isn’t a cure for it and says all I need to do is exercise and eat well. Sometimes, I wish it worked that way. I’m not sure what it is, but my family has been pushing my “cure” process!

When I went to TSU this year, I learned that many of my friends were open about their epilepsy, and some were just like me. From then on, I decided I would still advocate for epilepsy, even though I couldn’t say I had it. I’m so grateful I decided that because I am standing up for myself and the other 3.4 million Americans. I’m happy to be an epilepsy advocate.

Although it’s hard to learn lessons from my experience, I’ve learned one thing: keep doing what I’m doing because being off that medication is probably the closest thing I’ll have to “being cured.” The journey is not easy, but we’ll take it on like always. 💜💜

• Nidhi <3