Being epileptic: coming to terms with stigma

Abstract

Abstract Most commentators on the stigma associated with epilepsy have assumed that the psycho‐social distress sufferers experience derives wholly or largely from the discriminatory attitudes and behaviour of normal people. This ‘orthodox viewpoint’ is assessed and found to be lacking in empirical support. A study of the impact of epilepsy upon the lives of sufferers is reported, special attention being paid to coping strategies developed in the family and at work. A distinction between ‘enacted’ and ‘felt’ stigma is introduced and utilized in the generation of a new model of people's responses to ‘being epileptic’ which appears to have more explanatory power than the orthodox viewpoint.