Wellness Support Tools

Wellness Overview

Whether you are a person living with epilepsy, a caregiver, or a medical professional, it is important to consider the way epilepsy and treatments affect one's health, well-being, and daily life. Download this factsheet that explains what the term wellness means and how to set S.M.A.R.T. goals to make changes for the better.

• Wellness and Epilepsy factsheet.pdf

Emotional Health

Emotional health involves being aware of your feelings, mood, and behavior. Recognizing and discussing changes in emotional health with a health care professional is an important step toward improving one's overall wellness. Download this factsheet to find ways people living with epilepsy and caregivers can learn how to manage their emotional health.

• Emotional Health factsheet.pdf

Diet and Nutrition

Download this factsheet that covers general information about diet and nutrition, what it means to eat healthy, and the importance of working with one's health care team before making any major changes to their diet.

• Diet and Nutrition factsheet.pdf

Physical Activity

In addition to the benefits exercise brings to people without epilepsy, physical activity may help with seizure control, reducing side effects from seizure medications, and overall quality of life. Download this factsheet that covers the importance of physical activity, exercise safety, and how to get started.

• Physical Activity factsheet.pdf

Sleep

Sleep and epilepsy are closely connected. Not getting enough sleep can trigger, increase, and prolong seizures, or make it difficult to care for someone else's wellbeing. Download this factsheet to learn about the importance of enough sleep for people living with epilepsy and their caregivers and find tips for getting a better night's rest.

• Sleep factsheet.pdf

Stress Management

Stress is the way one's body responds to positive and negative physical, emotional, or environmental changes. For many people living with epilepsy, stress can trigger seizures. Having seizures can also result in feeling stressed. Download this factsheet that discusses strategies one can try to manage stress and why stress management is important for people living with epilepsy and their caregivers.

• Stress Management factsheet.pdf

Social Relationships

Download this factsheet that has tips for finding social networks, talking about epilepsy with friends or peers, and maintaining healthy relationships between caregivers and people living with epilepsy.

• Social Relationships factsheet.pdf

Education and Employment

Sometimes seizures can interfere with a person's ability to work, learn, and remember, making it difficult to find or keep a job or succeed in school. Download this factsheet that has resources and information about the legal rights of students and employees living with epilepsy.

• Education and Employment factsheet.pdf

Independent Living

Independent living refers to being able to make informed decisions and to direct one's own life. Managing epilepsy is more than just knowing how to handle the medical aspects of seizures or knowing how to stay safe. Download this factsheet that covers how one's ability to live independently is determined, housing options for people who cannot live alone, and ways to improve one's ability to live independently.

• Independent Living factsheet.pdf

Wellness for Caregivers

Caring for someone with a chronic condition such as epilepsy can be overwhelming and stressful. It can be easy to forget about one's own wellbeing while caring for another. It is important that caregivers remember to take proper care of themselves to stay well and be at their best. Download this factsheet that gives caregivers tips on maintaining their own wellness while also caring for someone else.

• Caregivers factsheet.pdf