Thumbs up to Umphakathi for helping in efforts to distigmatise epilepsy

SANE MSELEKU

There is still so much ignorance and stigma in our communities when it comes to epilepsy. We need to educate ourselves about this medical challenge.

Thanks to the talk show called Umphakathi, the show educate the community about the challenges people are facing in their everyday lives.

The show recently had a topic on epilepsy and it was such an eye opener, it has taught us about the condition or challenge called epilepsy, I wouldn’t really call it a disease.

The show corrected the misconception that most people have about epilepsy and answered most of the questions.

People often have wrong information about epilepsy, that it comes from witchcraft and also think it is contagious which is a myth and I also heard that some people think it is something that is hereditary which is not true.

The professionals disclosed the cause of the disease that you can be born with it or it can start later in life or it can start maybe after being involved in a car accident or when you hit your head badly and disturb your brain.

They also stated that it can happen to old people who have had a stroke as it triggers it. A traditional healer was also invited and she also had her opinion about the disease and explained that it can be a medical condition that doesn’t need to be attended to by traditional healers or sometimes it can be something to do with spiritual calling that causes a person to faint.

It is so sad that people still have stigma in our communities that makes people who suffer from the condition afraid to disclose themselves and be open about their condition.

They are afraid of being isolated and being judged by the people and they end up keeping to themselves.

Luckily for me, I have the experience with epilepsy, I was introduced to it at a very young age when my brother was involved in a car accident and was hit in the head and started to have seizures.

I already had a small clue on what was happening before he was even diagnosed because I watched a show called Soul buddyz which taught me how to attend a person having an episode.

I knew the first thing to do was put something on his mouth to prevent him from biting himself and also give him space to breathe not surround him. And later he was diagnosed with epilepsy.

I’m grateful for the show that it will help remove the stigma from our community and people will be willing to learn more about the disease and be more supportive of people who suffer from epilepsy. Thanks to the lovely host, Aaron Moloisi for hosting such a wonderful educational show Umphakathi.

*Catch Umphakathi every week days at 17:00 on  Moja Love, Channel 157.

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Sane Mseleku