Abstract
Objectives Patients with epilepsy and their family have diverse beliefs about the cause of their
illness that generally determine their treatment-seeking behavior. In this study,
our aim was to find out different beliefs about epilepsy that lead to different help-seeking
patterns, which act as barrier to the intended modern medical management of epilepsy.
Materials and Methods One hundred and fifty consecutive consenting patients accompanied by a reliable informant/family
member fulfilling the International Classification of Epileptic Seizures (ICES), simplified
version, were included. Demographic and clinical data of all the eligible subjects
was collected. Perceived cause of illness and help-seeking pattern were explored from
patient/informant by administering proper instruments.
Results Respondents identified varied causes of epilepsy and explored multiple help-seeking
options before reaching tertiary care centers. We observed that, generally, epileptic
patients/relatives who had belief in causes like supernatural causes sought help from
nonprofessional personnel and those attributed their symptom to bodily pathology had
professional help-seeking.
Conclusions The belief in supernatural causes not being conformed to the biomedical models of
the epileptic disorders increases the treatment gap.
Keywords
epilepsy - perception - behaviour - stigma - supernatural
