Blogpost 4: Sleeping Disorder: Narcolepsy

Could you imagine standing around talking to your friends and just dropping to the floor and falling asleep? After seeing the movie?

Imagine you are reading a book and suddenly you realize that you have not taken in a word of the last three pages. Not only that, you can't make any sense of what you are reading now. While you performed the act of reading and turning pages, your brain has shut down. Without realizing it, you have just fallen asleep.

Narcolepsy is a sleeping disorder distinguished by overwhelming daytime drowsiness and sleep attacks. The disorder makes it difficult for you to stay awake for long periods of time, in spite of any situation.

I read an article entitled "Narcolepsy Information" in disabled-world.com. According to the article as many as 200,000 Americans have the disease, but only about 50,000 are diagnosed. Additional to the article, stated that the narcolepsy causes its victims to experience serious problems in their professional and personal lives. People may perceive them as exhausted and their performance at school or work may suffer.

That's why when I am supposed to be awake, my brain tells me I'm tired. Even after enough nighttime sleep, I still find myself falling asleep at inappropriate times and places. Some people also experience hallucinations, sleep paralysis, a sudden loss of muscle control, or automatic behaviors performed without full awareness.

As I read further in the said article, it also sated that narcolepsy also often affects intimate relationships. Extreme sleepiness may cause low sex drive or impotence, and people with narcolepsy may even fall asleep while making love.

These problems may be further complicated by emotional difficulties. Intense feelings, such as anger or joy, can trigger some symptoms of narcolepsy, causing affected people to remove themselves from emotional interactions. 

Another article entitled "What Is Narcolepsy? What Causes Narcolepsy?" in medicalnewstoday.com. According to the article, Narcolepsy can occur in both men and women at any age, although the symptoms usually are first noticed in teenagers or young adults. There is strong evidence that Narcolepsy may run in families. 

In times, large majorities of people with this problem are often diagnosed after many years since the first symptom. People think the reason for being so tired is due to stress in their everyday life. In most cases, people are diagnosed to prevent a dramatic impact on their personal life.

The medicalnewstoday quoted that "that people who are sleepy are not lazy, bored, or unmotivated, but because they have a serious sleep disorder that needs to be take care of soon."

In this scenario, teenagers are sleeping past noon on weekends and it's driving you crazy. It's not necessarily a sign that they're becoming lazy and unmotivated. They're more likely catching up on much-needed sleep and will perform better in school, at work, or at home if they can catch a few extra "zzzz's."

A change occurs in the biological clock of the adolescents, shifting to a later time, which means that even they go to bed early, they will not be able to fall asleep as early as when they were younger.