Mumbai: Bollywood actress Fatima Sana Shaikh said she has been struggling with epilepsy for a long time. Her social media post is part of an effort to spread awareness about the health issue in epilepsy month.
She explained what epilepsy is and went on to share five facts about the condition that everyone should know. The 30-year-old also asked people to share their own stories of coping with epilepsy in the comment section.
She wrote that epilepsy is a brain disorder that causes recurring, unprovoked seizures due to disturbed nerve cell activity living in the brain. "You are often diagnosed with epilepsy if you have two or more unprovoked seizures. Epilepsy may occur as a result of a genetic disorder or a brain injury, but many people never know the cause."
She also revealed that she was diagnosed with the disease while training for Dangal (2016). She suffered from an episode during preparations and woke up at the hospital. At first, she was in denial. But, five years down the line, she has learnt to embrace it, work with it, and live around it.
Speaking about coping with the health condition as an actress, she said she informs all the directors she works with about epilepsy. "They have always been very supportive and understanding. They know of the challenges they might face on the days I get an episode." She added that epilepsy has led to social anxiety for her and she avoids places that make her uncomfortable.
She continued the conversation on her Instagram stories and said the chances of recurrence make her "terribly anxious". "I hate it, especially when I am at work." She added that several factors including stress, lack of sleep, dehydration, flashlights, and fatigue can trigger a seizure. Fatima also shared instructions on how to handle a situation in which you see someone get an episode. She said even though it can be scary, you should try to turn the person on their side and time it.
Fatima was last seen in the Netflix film Thar. She is currently playing Indira Gandhi in Sam Bahadur, a biopic set to release in 2023.