"Whilst medicine has made great strides in the diagnosis and management of epilepsy, the social and psychological consequences for the individual have until recently been neglected. Graham Scambler has conducted a number of studies in this field. He has examined not only the perspectives of individuals with epilepsy and those of their families, but also popular conceptions of the disorder. In this book he brings together his many insights to provide an illuminating account of the social reality of epilepsy. In particular, he critically examines one of the concepts that has been most frequently invoked to explain the social consequences of epilepsy - stigma. He develops a subtle and sensitive understanding of the diverse ways in which individuals come to sense a social disadvantage arising from the diagnosis of epilepsy. Patients' accounts are used to portray the different stages of the experience of epilepsy, from the onset of symptoms through the process of diagnosis to longer term adjustment. In so doing, he demonstrates the distinctive contribution that the social sciences can play in understanding illness."
"Drawing on patients' accounts, Graham Scambler examines the experience of both epilepsy and the stigma that can accompany it and illuminates the contribution that social science can make to understanding and managing the illness."@en

Epilepsy