Name of epilepsy, does it matter?

ABSTRACT

Names of epilepsy may refl ect misconception and contribute to stigma in epilepsy. Epilepsy in Chinese (dian xian, madness; yang dian feng, goat madness) is associated with insanity and animals. Because of the infl uence of Traditional Chinese Medicine, the names of epilepsy in certain East and Southeast Asian languages also convey the image of insanity and associated with animals. In the case of Malay who are mainly Muslim, it is also religiously unclean (gila babi, mad pig disease), contributing to stigma of the epilepsy patients. Of the East and South East Asian languages, epilepsy in Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Malay, Lao, Thai, Burmese, and Khmer (Cambodia) has the connotation of madness. The names of epilepsy have been replaced by a neutral terminology in Malay in Malaysia, and recently also for Chinese in Hong Kong, and Korean in South Korea.