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  • Article

The ‘undesirable epileptic’

Abused in her marriage for being 'a sick woman', Aparna Nair looked to history to make sense of the response to her epilepsy. She discovered how centuries of fear and discrimination were often endorsed by science and legislation.

  • Article

The ‘epileptic’ in art and science

From scarred outsiders in literature to the cold voyeurism of medical films and photography, people who experience seizures and epilepsy are rarely shown in a compassionate light in popular culture.

  • Article

The first seizure

Historian Aparna Nair had her first seizure when she was 11. Here she recalls that first time, and how other people’s reactions are sometimes the most disturbing part about having a seizure.

  • Article

The seizure dog

Aparna Nair's dog Charlie made her feel safe in the world. His uncanny ability to sense when she was about to experience a seizure also gave her an unexpected ally in her struggles with epilepsy.

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Images

  • Saint Valentine blessing an epileptic. Coloured etching.
  • Saint Valentine blessing an epileptic. Coloured etching.
  • Saint Valentine blessing an epileptic. Coloured etching.
  • Saint Valentine blessing an epileptic. Coloured etching.
  • A group of people standing around a man having an epileptic fit. Etching by J. Duplessi-Bertaux.
  • A group of people standing around a man having an epileptic fit. Etching by J. Duplessi-Bertaux.
  • An epileptic being restrained by another man is brought before a priest to be blessed. Ink drawing.
  • The skull of an epileptic as viewed from above. Lithograph after G. Scharf for Richard Bright, 1830.
  • Three epileptic women each supported by two men. Engraving by H. Hondius the younger, 1642, after P. Brueghel.
  • Three epileptic women each supported by two men. Engraving by H. Hondius the younger, 1642, after P. Brueghel.
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