- Title: Fit For Life
- Date: 22nd June 1993
- Summary: Gary Johnstone was not diagnosed as having epilepsy until he was 29. Confirmation of his condition, he says, at last made sense of a lot of things that had been happening to him. In this film he talks about his condition and experiences and describes how, after a year as a 'model' patient, he decided to stop taking medication and "start living again". His account is set against the background of the personal stories of other people - including a woman barrister - who explain how they refuse to let the condition rule and cramp either their professional or personal lives. They don't hide the fact that they have epilepsy - and they don't give in to it either. But they also describe the difficulties they encounter when faced with other people's attitudes - reactions that variously range from fear, patronising approaches to outright discrimination. Gary Johnstone's own story is fired with a powerful argument: society - friends, employees, workmates - are often absurdly frightened of epilepsy - and place far too many restrictions of people who are subject to epileptic attacks. Moreover, he says: "The label of epilepsy often means being denied a decent education and a chance to work." The condition itself emerges from this powerful account as the hidden disability. Society may have come to terms with most handicaps and disabilities - but not yet with epilepsy. At the end of the film, Gary Johnstone comments "I have always dealt with my epilepsy in an open way - never seen reason not to. But when I started making this film I was stunned by the level of passivity there is among people with epilepsy. I now realise that the passivity stems from hiding - and the hiding exists because of the intense discrimination. The problem is not about me dealing with a medical condition - it is about everyone dealing with a social problem".
- Description:AWARD WINNING DIRECTOR GARY JOHNSTONE,WHO HAS EPILEPSY,EXPLORES WHETHER THE PROTECTED LIFESTYLE OF MANY PEOPLE WITH EPILEPSY IS RIGHT. THE PUBLIC ARE STILL FEARFUL OF EPILEPSY. GARY BELIEVES IN A RISKIER BUT FULLER LIFE.
- Broadcaster:Channel 4
- Collection: Channel 4
- Genre:Documentary and Factual
- Producer:FULMAR WEST LTD
- Programme Episode:Episode 1
- Transmission Date:22/06/1993
- Rights:On Request
- Decade: 1990s