Epilepsy and self-identity among the Dutch

This article discusses the relationship between societal images of epilepsy and the self-identity of Dutch people with epilepsy. I show that the condition of having epilepsy is only constructed as chronic if people continue to have seizures. Chronic epilepsy, or "real epilepsy" as it is sometimes called, is not burdened with such classic stereotypes as "the epileptic personality" or "the epileptic genius." However, Dutch people replace these stereotypes with stereotypes based on ideas about "tension" and "weak spots"--phenomena that are allegedly linked to "sensitive," "brooding" types of people and that are thought to trigger epileptic seizures. Thus there develops a notion of self related to frequency of epileptic seizures. Those who are close to people with epilepsy--relatives and non-medical professionals--play an important role in this development.