Epilepsy Jo is the woman sitting where I was sitting; from the moment a seizure starts to the moment it ends. It’s Epilepsy Jo who during a seizure picks at her clothes, fiddles with anything within reach, raises her eyebrows, and smacks her lips. It’s Epilepsy Jo who, as a seizure starts, makes a guttural noise like (really terrible) Mongolian throat singing.

Studies of those with epilepsy in the US have shown that about a third of people with focal seizures suffer from anxiety disorders and that depression is 4-7 times more common in those with epilepsy. Another US study showed that people with epilepsy are at a 22% higher risk of suicide that the general population