EPILEPSY sufferers are afraid to leave their homes in case they are laughed at, ignored or abused if they have a seizure in public, a new survey has found.

The study, commissioned by Scottish charity Quarriers, says people with the condition believe they face discrimination from an uncaring public unaware of how to help them if they run into difficulty.

Among the horror stories revealed in the report are claims of people being robbed while they suffer a seizure, or being stepped over by passers-by while they lie incapacitated on the pavement.

Others said they had been mocked by members of the public or photographed by people using their mobile phones.

The Comres poll, one of the largest ever undertaken of people living with epilepsy in the UK, says almost 70% of people with epilepsy worry about what will happen to them if they experience a seizure while out on their own.

Many said that other people fail to understand the seriousness of their condition or are sceptical about its debilitating effects.

Epilepsy affects more than 600,000 people in the UK, including 54,000 in Scotland, making it one of the most common neurological conditions.

There are as many as 50 different types of the condition.

According to the UK-wide survey of 505 sufferers, more than one in four said they have been ignored, and 28% said they had been laughed at as a result of having a seizure.

One-quarter said they had been accused of faking or exaggerating a seizure, while 7% have even been filmed or photographed when at their most vulnerable.

Scotland international footballer Julie Ferguson, who may have developed epilepsy after sustaining an injury during a football game in 2003, said she had been accused of cheating while having a seizure on the pitch.

She said: "I was playing for Hibernian at the time and we were in the semi-final of a cup game.

"We were losing and one of our players had been sent off, then I had a grand mal seizure.

"I was carried off the pitch and 10 minutes' extra time was added to the game, during which we scored two goals and won.

"Some members of the opposition suggested I'd faked the seizure to get extra time."

The study also found that almost half of people with epilepsy do not tell others about their condition, while 60% said that it has had an impact on relationships with friends and family.

More than half felt others treated them differently after they had revealed they suffered from the condition;

Gerard Gahagan, head of clinical services at Quarriers, admits the findings of the survey make for sober reading and has called for more to be done to stop the stigma associated with the condition.

The charity runs the Scottish Epilepsy Centre, an independent hospital based in Quarriers Village just outside Glasgow, which assesses and diagnoses more than 100 people each year from across the UK living with very complex forms of epilepsy, as well as some who have been misdiagnosed.

Mr Gahagan says: "The survey results confirm attitudes towards people living with epilepsy in the UK have not changed for centuries.

"It appears we are stuck in the dark ages when it comes to how we treat those who suffer from one of the most common neurological conditions.

"These attitudes simply have to change – and fast.

"Around one in 100 people in the UK suffer from epilepsy, so there is a high probability perpetrators of the discrimination could actually have a relative or friend who is avoiding revealing they live with the condition because they fear what the reaction will be.

"At Quarriers we believe people living with epilepsy should be able to go about their daily lives without fear of having a seizure in public or worrying about what others may say or do."