The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Need to assess impact of epilepsy on children, their families stressed

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Need to assess impact of epilepsy on children, their families stressed

Special Correspondent

— Photo: R. Ragu

Expert honoured: A. Vellayan, vice- chairman, Murugappa Group and Trustee Vellayan Chettiar Trust (second from left), presenting the M.V. Arunachalam Endowment Oration Award to Rochelle Caplan, Professor of Psychiatry and Biobehavioural Sciences, UCLA, USA, at a function in Chennai on Saturday. (From left) S. Krishnamoorthy, secretary, VHS; S.K. Rajan, chairman, Board of Studies, Tamil Nadu Dr. M.G.R Medical University; and Meer Mustafa Hussain, Vice-Chancellor, are in the picture.

CHENNAI: It is essential to assess the complex impact of epilepsy on children and their families, according to Rochelle Caplan, professor of Psychiatry and Biobehavioural Sciences, UCLA, United States.

Intervention and prevention services have to be provided to children who have epilepsy, their parents and siblings. The barriers that come in the way of this must be examined carefully and overcome. It is also important to place things within the contexts of culture and stigma, Prof. Caplan said on Saturday.

She was delivering the seventh MV Arunachalam Endowment Oration organised by the Institute of Neurological Sciences, Voluntary Health Services (VHS) along with Tamil Nadu Dr. MGR Medical University at the Madras Medical College. She was speaking on her area of specialisation: ‘Epilepsy in the young: Impact on mood, behaviour and family life.’

Focus group studies conducted among parents had shown that their main concern was that their children’s education needs were not being met. They had also expressed dissatisfaction with the information professionals had about epilepsy, including those in the medical and education sectors and mental health clinicians.

Clearly, there was a huge unmet mental health need – not only for the children, but also their parents and siblings, who found it difficult to cope. Studies among paediatricians indicated that the group was not interested in epilepsy. Paediatric neurologists complained of limited resources for mental health referrals. Insurance did not cover this and mental health experts were unwilling to take these children.

Stressing the importance of providing mental health care, Prof. Caplan said there were a wide range of psychiatric disorders diagnosed among children with epilepsy, including attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, depression, anxiety, subtle learning difficulties, and mood disorders. A high rate of suicides had been recorded among adolescents who had epilepsy. In addition, one had to factor in the side effects from anti-epilepsy drugs that had a direct impact on the cognitive and behavioural aspects of the child.

Children and their families also had to deal with the school system. The needed to ‘catch up’ produced enormous stress. She added that teachers in the US had a lot of misconceptions about epilepsy, believing that children with the illness would be retarded. They lowered their expectations and this impacted heavily on what the students delivered. Children also had to deal with comments from peers at school, as seizures could be frightening, grotesque.

A.Vellayan, vice-chairman, Murugappa Group, and trustee, Vellayan Chettiar Trust, presented the oration award to Prof. Caplan.

Vice-Chancellor Meer Mustafa Hussain said it was important to sensitise the public about treatment possibilities for epilepsy. This would bring down the stigma and myths that clouded public perception of epileptic seizures. Parents and children required counselling.

S.K. Rajan, chairman, Board of Studies at the varsity, spoke about social problems associated with the condition in India.

E.S. Krishnamoorthy, secretary, VHS, said epilepsy was an example of an illness that straddled the brain and mind. The lecture was an exercise in public private partnership with the involvement of a corporate house, an NGO and a university.

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