Campbell Alexander's 'condition' (spoilers)

In the book the reason why he doesn't ask for a recess is because Anna has finally agreed to take the stand and he thinks if he takes a time out she'll change her mind, so he wants to persevere.

I don't know about epilepsy, I don't have the condition, nor do I know someone who does, but it seems to me he tried to keep it as private as possible.
1. Even if he knew he was going to have a seizure, he didn't want to tell the judge, since it appears he kept his condition quite private, maybe he thought people would take pity on him or see him as a weaker person for it. People can be as s hole s. He had already asked for a recess and the judge denied him.
2. I saw on an episode of Grey's Anatomy that stress caused a patient's seizures, I don't really trust that Grey's Anatomy is the most accurate source of medical information, but it's the only one I have at the moment, lol. So maybe the stress of the case was getting to him at the moment and he took a xanax or something to calm down.
3. Maybe he stood up and walked away because he wanted to get somewhere private and safe where he could have a seizure without the entire courtroom seeing him, because as stated previously, he kept it pretty private.

These are all my own opinions however, just possibilities of what I think might have been happening.

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Never forget what you are, the rest of the world will not.

I can speak as someone who's epileptic since I am.

1. It's not something I normally openly talk about. I don't go around announcing it to the world. Honestly it's a little embarrassing - you have to admit that at times, you have absolutely no control over your body. I keep a card in my purse with my doctor's name and number and what to do and whom in my family to contact.

2. Sometimes I can "feel" my med level dropping. Depending on the medications he was taking, he might have been able to too and thought maybe the pill would bring him out of it. Also I once went into status epilepticus (unending convulsive seizures, one after another) - I was basically put on an IV of my seizure medication to the point of overdose. It was more important to get the seizures stopped and then worry about making sure I wasn't harmed by the overdose.

3. This ties into my first answer. He didn't want to have the seizure happen there, in a public space. He wanted to be by himself. A convulsive seizure/grand mal is traumatizing - you don't just snap out of it afterwards either. You will have confusion that can last up to hours or days.




"It's better to be hated for who you are than be loved for who you aren't."