A YOUNG Dumbarton woman has spoken about her "unpredictable" condition to highlight the need for more awareness about epilepsy.

Jocelyn McVay found out she had the condition at 18, after a long wait for diagnosis and beginning of treatment.

Now she has described what it's like to live with epilepsy as part of the Epilepsy Action charity's annual Purple Day awareness-raising event.

Jocelyn said: “When I was first diagnosed, my seizures and emotions were all over the place. It completely changed my life. 

"When I first started having seizures, I lost all the self-confidence I had.

"I was constantly worried about what people would think of me having a seizure, how horrible I would have looked during it.

"I've learned to overcome these fears, even though I still struggle with my confidence, as it's more important that I come out of the seizure unharmed than how I look.”

For the 23-year-old, the lack of awareness is concerning, especially when it comes to potentially having a seizure while out alone.

She added: “One thing that has always been a worry for me is how little epilepsy is spoke of and learned about. If I had a seizure in public, there’s no way to know if anyone would stop and help.

"These days, I think it would be more likely for people to record it than help.”

Unfortunately, in Jocelyn’s case, she experienced stigma from some of the people close to her, when she was diagnosed with epilepsy.

“One of my "friends" at the time told everyone I was faking my seizures," she said, "which was very upsetting and of course untrue.

"I was also barred from a nightclub for having a seizure because of that "friend" telling the security that it was fake.

"My ex-boyfriend also broke up with me because my seizures were too difficult to handle and embarrassing for him if I had one in public.”

Despite the challenges, however, Jocelyn did extremely well academically and is now in university which she said is her proudest achievement.

She said: “I was in college when I was first diagnosed, which meant the seizures took a huge toll on my attendance and college work.

"However, thanks to the ongoing support of my tutors, I ended up getting an A grade, and achieved an award for having done very well in my course, despite having unfortunate circumstances.

"I then moved on to university, where I’m currently still studying.

"That was my proudest achievement.” 

She is one of the 630,000 people with epilepsy in the UK and with Purple Day coming up this weekend (March 26), Epilepsy Action asked people with the condition to find ‘just one word’ that could describe their experience, to encourage an open and honest conversation, in a bid to raise awareness.

For Jocelyn, that word would be ‘unpredictable’.

As part of their Purple Day awareness campaign, Epilepsy Action also surveyed the general public to find out more about their attitudes and level of knowledge of epilepsy.

The data showed there is still a clear lack of understanding, with nearly nine in ten people (89 per cent) believing at least one myth about it.

Furthermore, more than a quarter of people (27 per cent) admitted they would be unsure about employing someone with epilepsy.

An additional 31 per cent said they would feel uncomfortable about being in a room with someone with epilepsy in case they had a seizure.

For Purple Day this year, Epilepsy Action is encouraging supporters to get involved in fund-raisers and on social media with the #purpleday and #OneWord.

Find out more here on the website here.

Epilepsy Action has a range of support services to help people coping with diagnosis and daily life with epilepsy, available at epilepsy.org.uk or by calling the Epilepsy Action helpline on freephone 0808 800 5050.