From Hiding Diagnosis to Advocating for Awareness: A Young Woman’s Epilepsy Journey

This week on Seizing Life® Mariah Mayhugh discusses her epilepsy journey, from hiding childhood absence seizures to becoming an active and creative advocate for epilepsy awareness, education, and representation.

Mariah Mayhugh was diagnosed with absence seizures at age seven and tried to gain seizure control through various medications for the next nine years. During this time, Mariah kept her diagnosis a secret from friends, peers, and teachers. She experienced social and emotional impacts as a result of her epilepsy, but excelled in school through homeschooling and a blended learning program, so much so that she began taking college classes at the age of 15. After achieving seizure control at the age of 16, Mariah wrote a school research paper on childhood epilepsy that ignited her desire to not only go public with her epilepsy diagnosis, but also become a passionate advocate for epilepsy awareness and education. Mariah recounts her journey for us, discusses her many advocacy efforts including creating videos and events, publishing a children’s book, and becoming Miss El Paso County by running on an epilepsy advocacy platform. She also talks about her plans for future advocacy efforts, discusses the importance of representation in media, and offers advice for other young people who are living with epilepsy.

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