If there is progress made in discovering a genetic cause for epilepsy, then maybe someday we will see it be treated by gene therapy. Although, for now, let's look at past and current methods of treatment.
Epilepsy has a very dark history.
Because of the outward appearance of a person seizing, this disorder can be very scary. In fact, it was originally thought to be one of the eight cardinal contagious diseases, putting it in company with bubonic plague, tuberculosis, scabies, erysipelas, anthrax, trachoma, and leprosy. These treatments ranged from making the patient drink blood to not allowing them to look downward from a mountain top. It was also believed, at one time, that epileptics were possessed by demons. The efforts to expel the demons were cruel and gruesome most of the time.