Representing Epilepsy on TV

This week's episode of The Pitt - Spoiler Alert - confirmed my suspicions and stopped me in my tracks. Throughout the season there were multiple clues that Dr. Baran Al-Hashimi, the new character scheduled to take over for Dr. Robby when he goes on a 3 month sabbatical, was experiencing seizures. She is portrayed as being smart and in control, bringing new ideas and innovation to The Pitt to make things run smoother. And, she cares for her patients, which is noticed by her co-workers as the season evolves. All the while, she amazingly illustrated staring and loss of awareness multiple times, which, in this case, represents Focal Seizures with Impaired Awareness. She even acted out the stages of the seizure, if you know what to look for.

This is finally an accurate portrayal of a person living with epilepsy. Dr. Al-Hashimi is trying to be a regular ordinary person doing her job as an ER physician, and trying to fit in with others who don't necessarily understand that there is so much more to epilepsy than "just the seizures." All of that was revealed quietly in the last scene of the show.

You can view the ending here - but note that people with epilepsy may need to grab a tissue: https://www.facebook.com/reel/1607346877048237

Dr. Al-Hashimi calls Dr. Robby in for a consult, which, much to his surprise, turns out to be him reviewing her case of epilepsy (although he says seizure disorder because that is what medical care providers call epilepsy based on ICD codes). Her seizures were caused by a case of meningitis when she was 5 years old. She has tears in her eyes, and you can see she is uncomfortable. She mentioned to him that wants a fresh perspective and respects his opinion. Once Robby realizes the case is her, the camera shifts to Dr. Al-Hashimi for a few seconds. And then the show ends.

Why is that ending so profound? Because for people who experience drug resistant epilepsy, that is an accurate portrayal of the vulnerability we feel every day in our professional lives. The general public has very little understanding of that. We only tell others about our diagnosis if we absolutely have to. And, we only choose to reveal this to people we trust. The tears in her eyes said it all. It was real.

Cleveland Clinic addresses who is most at risk for focal seizures as: "Focal seizures are most common in people who have head injuries, birth abnormalities of their brain, febrile seizures in childhood, infections of their brain (encephalitis), strokes, brain tumors or other conditions that affect their brain." Her seizures, arising from meningitis (an infection of the brain), explains that she is experiencing Focal Seizures with Impaired Awareness. https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/22893-focal-seizure

Her character was me living with focal epilepsy, and the reason Empowering Epilepsy was created. Only people with epilepsy and their loved ones will make that same connection to her character. Anxiety and depression that accompanies seizures, not knowing when a seizure will take place, nor the "coming out" to tell others that we have epilepsy, as amazingly portrayed in this scene, was never talked about when I was living with epilepsy in the 1980's and 1990's. Today it is still rarely addressed in the doctor's office unless you are seeing an Epileptologist - a neurologist who specializes in epilepsy and seizures. You can learn more about why we don't talk about epilepsy often with others from our anonymous blogger here: https://www.empoweringepilepsy.org/post/why-i-don-t-talk-about-epilepsy

This story line is huge for our Empowering Epilepsy Community and the Epilepsy Community at large. Epilepsy or Seizure Disorder defined by the general public is usually thought to be a Generalized Tonic Clonic Seizure, formerly called a Grand Mal Seizure, or Absence Seizures, that everyone defines as "smaller seizures." What the general public rarely understands is that there are over 40 different types of seizures and syndromes defined as epilepsy. The types of seizures are determined by where in the brain seizures are starting, and what caused them, if identifiable. You can learn more about that here: https://www.empoweringepilepsy.org/managing-epilepsy

1 in 10 people will experience a seizure in their lifetime, and 1 in 26 will be diagnosed with epilepsy in their lifetime. Anyone can have epilepsy and seizures, even physicians and other high profile individuals. Epilepsy is present across all socio-economic statuses, races, genders, and ages. Epilepsy needs to be talked about, be better understood by people in the general public, and the dire need for a safety net needs to be realized and created for people with epilepsy so they can live their lives to the fullest. We can lose everything to epilepsy, and it happens fast. This is why Empowering Epilepsy is here, quietly doing what we need to do to individually help people with epilepsy improve their quality of life. We have created that safety net and helped so many people with our Patient Education Program, Support Groups, and Conferences. We want to help more.

Empowering Epilepsy's mission is to connect people with epilepsy to experts and peers for education, care, and friendship.  We anchor a caring community that empowers our members and their loved ones to better understand and manage their treatment plan throughout their epilepsy journey. Hopefully this storyline in The Pitt will help people better understand the dire need and support needed for Empowering Epilepsy's free programs and services that are provided directly to people with epilepsy, like The Pitt's character, Dr. Al-Hashimi. https://empoweringepilepsy.org

If you are living with epilepsy and want to learn more, please reach out to me at Leigh@empoweringepilepsy.org or call 216-342-4167. We will help you change the conversation and empower your life by providing you with the educational resources, support, and connections you need for free.

If you would like to support the free programs and services we are offering, click here: https://empoweringepilepsy.org/donate

Leigh Goldie, M.Ed.

Founder and Executive Director

Empowering Epilepsy