Myth Monday: “Epilepsy Is Contagious”

The myth: epilepsy is contagious, and you can catch it by touching someone during a seizure.

Evidence suggests this belief has no basis in how epilepsy actually works. Epilepsy is a neurological condition, not an infection. It cannot spread through touch, breath or shared space. Current understanding points to causes such as brain injury, genetics, infections during development, or, in many cases, no identifiable cause at all.

This myth matters because it is not harmless. It is one of the reasons people living with epilepsy are avoided, excluded from school activities, or left without help during a seizure, out of fear rather than fact.

There is more nuance here than a simple myth-versus-fact statement allows, and ACE will return to epilepsy often.