Epilepsy is not a mental health condition, yet children and young people with epilepsy are four times more likely to develop mental health problems than their peers. To help address the situation, Young Epilepsy has now launched a petition to call on healthcare leaders across the UK to ensure that every child with epilepsy is offered mental health screening and support as an integrated part of their paediatric epilepsy care.
A parliamentary committee has recommended that a new law should be introduced to protect people with photosensitive epilepsy online. This would make it an offence to send flashing images to someone with the intent of causing a seizure.
Young Epilepsy trustee, Professor Helen Cross OBE, has just been ranked one of the world’s most influential scientists on Clarivate’s annual ‘Highly Cited Researchers List’ 2021, which recognises authors of the most influential research papers around the world.
A survey of over 240 young people with epilepsy has found that 77% said living with the condition has had a significant impact on their mental wellbeing. This includes their thoughts, feelings and how they are able to cope with everyday life.
Your dedication is making a lasting difference to thousands of young lives across the UK. With your help, more children and young people who are living with epilepsy can get the support they need to thrive and fulfil their potential.
National charity, Young Epilepsy is set to revolutionise the diagnostic experience for children with the condition by introducing the world’s first clinical wearable MEG (Magnetoencephalography) brain scanning system to its Health and Research Centre in Surrey. Following an exciting collaboration with experienced MEG researchers, clinicians and engineers from around the world, the team have created a wearable optically pumped magnetometer magnetoencephalography (OPM-MEG) system. The charity has placed this innovative technology, which is integrated into a magnetically shielded room, at the centre of its new diagnostic suite.
If you have autism, you are more likely to have epilepsy than someone without autism. We know that worldwide approximately 8.4 million people have both conditions, and they face some of the starkest inequalities in the world.
A Young Epilepsy research study has found that many children with epilepsy are not getting the support they need at school. More than half of the children reported that some of their teachers and friends did not know that they had epilepsy. Parents have highlighted that school staff should be informed about the impact of epilepsy on learning and behaviour, in order to provide holistic support.
Olympic Athlete, Beth Dobbin, experienced a large seizure 13 years ago, which affected her movement, speech and memory and resulted with some time spent in hospital.
Children and young people with epilepsy need better access to mental health support services, with only 15% of Health Boards and Trusts currently able to integrate mental health provision within their epilepsy clinics, according to the latest Epilepsy12 report from the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH).
