Narcolepsy that harms oneself and others

Narcolepsy is a mental illness that is prone to occur in children and adolescents. It is a kind of resistant short-term sleep disorder. The onset of narcolepsy usually includes symptoms such as sleep paralysis and sleep spinning. It can be said that narcolepsy has a great impact on daily life. For growing and developing adolescents, if it is not treated in time, the impact may be lifelong.

To put it simply, narcolepsy is a functional disease caused by insufficient activation system function. Usually, people with narcolepsy will suffer from the problem of affected self-confidence.

Narcolepsy is a disorder characterized by irresistible short-term sleep attacks. The disease usually starts in childhood or adolescence, and the incidence rate is similar between men and women. Some patients may have a history of encephalitis or craniocerebral trauma. The pathogenesis is still unclear, but it may be related to decreased function of the ascending activation system of the brainstem reticular formation or hyperfunction of the caudal pons reticular nucleus. Recent studies have found that patients with narcolepsy experience localized necrosis of hypothalamic neurons. Most patients have other symptoms such as cataplexy, sleep paralysis, and sleep hallucinations, collectively known as the narcolepsy tetrad. Some patients may have a history of encephalitis or craniocerebral trauma. There are four common manifestations of narcolepsy.

1Sleep attacks. The patient is often in a state of low wakefulness, which is particularly obvious in the afternoon, and is more likely to occur after meals or in a warm environment. Each attack lasts from a few seconds to a few hours, usually a dozen minutes, and can be awakened. It can occur multiple times a day. Treatment is better.

2Cataplexy. About 70% of patients may have concomitant attacks, which are particularly prone to occur when they are emotionally excited, such as laughter, anxiety, fear, etc. There is often a sudden and brief decrease in systemic muscle tone and movement inhibition, causing the patient to fall or kneel down. In mild cases, there may only be limb weakness.

3. Sleep paralysis. About 20%-30% of patients experience sleep paralysis, which often occurs after waking up or while falling asleep. The patient is conscious but feels general weakness and cannot move. Recovery usually takes a few seconds to a few minutes.

4Sleep hallucinations. About 30% of patients experience sleep hallucinations, which often occur when falling asleep. There may be various visual and auditory hallucinations, most of which are vivid and mostly related to unpleasant daily experiences, and may also occur with sleep paralysis. I often have many dreams and wake up easily during sleep at night.

Narcolepsy needs to be differentiated from absence seizures of epilepsy, but the former has no epileptic discharges on the EEG and no loss of consciousness during the seizure. Polysomnography can reveal:

Although narcolepsy is not a common disease, it is beneficial for people in life to understand narcolepsy in order to prevent and detect narcolepsy. Here I would like to remind you that if you also have symptoms of narcolepsy, you must learn to relieve your stress so as to maintain our health.