What is a Chronic Health Condition?

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Chronic health conditions are health conditions that are long-lasting – so they are different to an acute illness like a cold or flu, which is short-lasting.

Epilepsy is considered a chronic health condition just like asthma, arthritis and diabetes. Not everyone has life-long epilepsy, it depends on what type of epilepsy you have.

The symptoms (seizures) of epilepsy might go away with treatment but you still are regarded as having epilepsy – even though you may feel completely healthy and well most of the time.

However, there are some forms of epilepsy that are self-limiting and the seizures stop by a certain age. For instance, if you have an age-related (self-limiting) epilepsy syndrome and you move past the age when these seizures occur, your epilepsy is considered “resolved”. Epilepsy is also considered resolved if you are seizure free for the last 10 years, or have been seizure-free without taking anti-seizure medication for the last 5 years.

If you’re living with epilepsy, you don’t just have the physical effects, but you can also be affected emotionally, socially, and sometimes even financially if it affects your ability to work or medical expenses are high.

The way you might be affected depends on your epilepsy, how you feel about it, how it affects you, how often seizures happen, what type of seizures you have, plus how others react to you and the kinds of treatments that you are having.

Because epilepsy is an “invisible” condition, and there are a lot of misunderstandings, stigma, and people really don’t have much awareness of it.

It takes time to adjust and accept the realities of having epilepsy. Try to learn as much as you can about it, ask for support when you need it, and actively involve yourself in your treatment and managing the condition.

young people group meeting