VIDEO. Narcolepsy, a poorly understood and misdiagnosed disorder

They are unable to stay awake and may fall asleep suddenly. This change in physical state has a name: narcolepsy. Tiktokeurs have filmed themselves to show what it looks like. For some, this pathology can have dramatic consequences: “I lost my job today, they fired me because of my illness“, confides a tiktokeuse suffering from narcolepsy.

Narcolepsy is a neurological sleep disorder characterized by excessive daytime sleepiness. In the United States, one person in 2000 is affected by this disease which is however -often- undiagnosed or misdiagnosed. Also, this disorder is often confused with depression, anxiety or insomnia. “At no time did those around me or myself think that I was perhaps really tired, that it was perhaps the fatigue that caused the depression and not the other way around.“, explains Hayley Winters, suffering from narcolepsy. After having made several examinations, she finally received results attesting that she was indeed suffering from this disease.

Many symptoms can be associated with narcolepsy. We are not equal in the face of this disorder but overall, sleep paralysis, hallucinations and insomnia are possible (and frequent) symptoms of the disease. Narcolepsy type 1 is associated with cataplexy, a sudden loss of muscle tone. Specifically, your mind stays awake but your body suddenly falls asleep.

The exact cause of narcolepsy is not known, but experts attribute it to low levels of a brain chemical compound that governs wakefulness. There are treatments to relieve the symptoms of narcolepsy but this disorder remains incurable.