To mark International Epilepsy Day on Monday, February 11, 2019, the French Foundation for Epilepsy Research has launched an unprecedented communications operation: "Cash Epilepsy".

The FFRE, which supports epilepsy research in all its forms, has decided this year to communicate in a different and unexpected way, to make the general public aware of what the day-to-day life of epilepsy patients is like, and to launch an appeal for donations for research.

Epilepsy, a permanent fear of the disease's manifestations.

Epileptic seizures most often manifest as unpredictable absences and loss of consciousness, leading to falls. Depending on the environment in which they occur, these falls can have more or less serious consequences. So when you have epilepsy, even the most ordinary surroundings and everyday objects can be potentially dangerous. And even for patients who are well controlled by treatment, the fear of a seizure is ever-present: fear of the dangers of seizures and the way others view the disease.

"Cash Epilepsy": a fake store to draw attention to a real danger.

To illustrate this little-known reality, the FFRE opened a fake store in Paris on January 30, pretending to sell second-hand items at "knock-down prices" for three days... Attracted by these prices, over forty curious onlookers were surprised to discover that the objects had all been broken or damaged by their previous owners, during an epileptic seizure. Potential buyers discovered the dramatic story behind these objects, such as the coffee table broken by 45-year-old Isabelle, who fell headfirst during a seizure that left her with severe head trauma and a fortnight's hospitalization.

The salesman present was then able to educate the "customers" about epilepsy, and explain that, given the indifference or stigma surrounding epilepsy, and the lack of funding and donations, it was necessary to use a shocking ploy to ensure that such a store never existed.

The aim was to draw the attention of the public and the media to the problem, and to put the issue on the public health agenda. Filmed on hidden camera, these customers, trapped for a good cause, became the protagonists of an original video that became the Foundation's new online campaign: "Cash Epilepsy. Des vies brisées àprix cassés". Still little known to the general public, epilepsy is a neurological disease that affects over 600,000 patients in France, and affects 3 million people including their carers.