EPILEPTICS AND THEIR DISEASE IN DAKAR, SE NEGAL - A STUDY OF PATIENT EXPERIENCES

A semi-structured questionnaire was used to determine how patients wit h grand-mal epilepsy perceive their disease in Dakar, Senegal, Patient s reported that they were frequently excluded from social activities a nd that their friends and relatives ascribed their disease to supernat ural evil forces, They shared this belief, which was rooted in the tea chings of traditional healers. Nevertheless most patients felt that mo dern medicine could cure their disease. Many patients reported a lack of participation in decisions about their disease, Dropping out from s chool and keeping away from social activities were common behaviors ai med at escaping from derision and harassment, In addition, occurrence of a seizure in the presence of others was feared because of the rejec tion induced by the belief that epilepsy can be transmitted via saliva .