The month of November is Epilepsy Awareness Month, and I thought I’d share one of the many important things to be aware of!
One thing that have become more common as a trigger for seizures are flashing light or strobe lights. This is called photosensitivity. Not everyone with epilepsy has photosensitivity epilepsy, but there are a handful of people that do. For me, lights do affect me.
There are so many examples of light that sometimes we don’t think will bother others with epilepsy. I have noticed that some people have a flashing strobe light as an alert for when they receive a text message. Now of course, people have the right to do with they want when it comes to their cell phone. But, if you want to be mindful of how this can effect others, knowing this information can be helpful to so many people.
Another example is in stores, restaurant, etc. there may be a light bulb that is burning out and flashing in the overhead lights. I personally have taken the time to tell staff members at these places that having lights flashing can affect people with epilepsy. Some have responded as if they don’t care. Some have responded with asking the question “what is epilepsy?“. Some have also responded with kindness and telling me that they will fix it right away. This is why spreading Epilepsy Awareness is so important, because some people don’t know what epilepsy is at all or only know a limited amount of information. Speaking up if you see flashing lights in public can help more people than you know!
Before movies, it is becoming more common to warn people about flashing lights. If you have knowledge about a movie or video that may have flashing lights, don’t be afraid to speak up and share that information with others.
Lastly, I am seeing this a lot more but on Tik Tok there are some users who put in the caption of their video “Flashing light warning” which is greatly appreciate! There are also some users who don’t put any warning at all which can be dangerous for those with epilepsy that are photosensitive. Also on other social media platforms there are some people that warn viewers and some that don’t. It is very important to warn people because you never know if the viewer that views your content has epilepsy.
Flashing light and photosensitivity are very important topics when it comes to epilepsy awareness. November is ending but Epilepsy Awareness is happening all of the time! Don’t be afraid to speak up and spread awareness to others about the possible danger of flashing lights and people that have epilepsy. As well as speaking up about epilepsy information in general and educating others about epilepsy!