Epilepsy myths: alive and foaming in the 21st century

Many myths are perpetuated and reinforced in the portrayal of fictional characters with epilepsy in films and on television. Common cinematic treatment myths include the necessity for immediate medical intervention in the form of an ambulance crew to stop a seizure and the placing of an object in the seizing person's mouth to prevent the person from choking on her or his tongue. Other misrepresentations include excessive "foaming" at the mouth during a seizure and frequent violence. We conducted an Internet-based survey to examine the prevalence of belief in these myths in the United Kingdom. We received 4605 valid responses. People who knew someone with epilepsy were significantly less likely to subscribe to all the myths than were those who had no personal knowledge of epilepsy. Seeing seizures in public appears to improve knowledge regarding appropriate first aid procedures, but does not have an impact on myths surrounding the presentation of a seizure. These results are discussed in relation to the "we see what we expect to see" phenomenon in relation to stereotypes surrounding epilepsy.