Writing a Character with Narcolepsy

[Decidueye]

Hello again,

In one of my planned manuscripts I wanted to write one of the MCs to have Narcolepsy with Cataplexy, since you don't see it and other disabilities a lot in books or media in general.
But I am not very knowledgeable on that condition, so I was wondering if anyone on the form could share info on it using either; their own experience, the experience of a loved one, book recs, or some useful articles.
I also want to mention that the book is supposed to have a fair bit of action, it does have some slow parts, so nothing too extreme. I know this makes it seem unbelievable to add that under those circumstances but hear me out; I am aware (at least if I'm not mistaken) it is triggered by ANY strong emotion. like stress for example but usually laughter, which might help with writing it, and I was also thinking that it does act as a disadvantage as at the most stressful times he can't fight or do anything for that matter because he is either a sleep or some parts of his body can't move, but I thought it could also work in a magic system that works only when one sleeps.
I saw some reddit posts about people's experience with the condition, but it has been a while so I'll also try to learn some more there.

 

[hitmouse]

Is he a defrocked knight magician narcoleptic cataplectic trying to regain his honour in a high fantasy story? It would be more challenging if he keeps falling asleep or losing the use of his legs in combat.
Little known fact: 13.5% of narcoleptic/cataplectics have an accessory nipple.

 

[Decidueye]

Is he a defrocked knight magician narcoleptic cataplectic trying to regain his honour in a high fantasy story? It would be more challenging if he keeps falling asleep or losing the use of his legs in combat.
Little known fact: 13.5% of narcoleptic/cataplectics have an accessory nipple.

This is a genuine question and I hope this doesn't get taken the wrong way. Is this a joke or just judging?

 

[Danny McG]

I was on a residential training course in some hotel in the Lake District, 12 attendees and three instructors for different aspects of it.
One attendee was a woman (Laura) who explained upfront that she was suffering from it, her bosses made allowances for her.

Anyways we were all sat around as the days progressed and often you could see Laura just zonk out with her head rolling to the side, sometimes accompanied by faint snores.
After a few minutes she'd start awake, look sheepishly embarrassed and have a quick mutter with the people sitting each side of her to catch up on the discussion issues.

We soon got used to this and didn't think much of it, when she was alert she made some good contributions and proved to be well able to handle her condition.

The one thing she'd made us promise was no phone pictures of her drooling with her sleeping mouth wide open - she sometimes got hazed like that at her place of work and didn't find it funny.

 

[Cthulhu.Science]

In one of my planned manuscripts I wanted to write one of the MCs to have Narcolepsy with Cataplexy

One attendee was a woman (Laura) who explained upfront that she was suffering from it

Not directly responsive to the OP.

I liked the way that the film Memento carried the audience through the process of the main character not certain what is going on. A story from the perspective of someone with Narcolepsy sounds fascinating.

Thinking of Laura for a moment. How fortunate that she has found a safe environment to live and work. We could probably all imagine how vulnerable a person suffering from Narcolepsy really is. Not just teasing, how about pick-pockets or much, much worse.

Excited to see a sample of your story.

 

[Brian G Turner]

In one of my planned manuscripts I wanted to write one of the MCs to have Narcolepsy with Cataplexy, since you don't see it and other disabilities a lot in books or media in general.
But I am not very knowledgeable on that condition

The question is: why?

There's nothing wrong with trying to put some form of representation into fictional work, but trying to make it a main feature suggests you need a deep understanding based on your own personal experience. If you don't have that then I would recommend you don't do it, as you risk creating misunderstandings and result in misrepresentation.

I say this as someone with a chronic illness that is widely misunderstood by the wider public, often to the detriment of sufferers, and as a wheelchair-user who has since noticed that you almost never see anyone in a wheelchair in mainstream media, unless it specifically focuses on illness.

 

[hitmouse]

Is he a defrocked knight magician narcoleptic cataplectic trying to regain his honour in a high fantasy story? It would be more challenging if he keeps falling asleep or losing the use of his legs in combat.
Little known fact: 13.5% of narcoleptic/cataplectics have an accessory nipple.

That statistic is roughly correct. It applies to the general population, so there is no reason to think it does not apply to your proposed group.

 

[CupofJoe]

My mother had a form of Narcolepsy that started in her mid 50s. She would [and frequently did] suddenly fall asleep. Even while talking in mid-sentence. She would wake up [anything from a minute to up to an hour later] and carry on talking as if nothing had happened. She was tested for epilepsy, as this can present in a similar way.
When it started to get worse she had to stop driving and retire [an up-side for her!]. I don't remembering it ever happening when she was physically active, such as walking or shopping. But if seated watching TV, then cups of tea or plates of biscuits were dropped, so there may have been a degree of Cataplexy that was not obvious.

 

[Yozh]

In the movie My Own Private Idaho (Dir. Gus Van Sant, starring River Phoenix and Keanu Reeves), the main character has narcolepsy. I have no idea if the portrayal is realistic or not. He loses consciousness, maybe dreams and if he’s alone he may be robbed/abused by passersby if with friends they may just haul him along with them.

 

[hvoad]

I have experience with someone with narcolepsy. It is a doozy. They literally need to have someone in the passenger seat so that the person can keep them awake while driving. They sleep all the time despite taking meds, and it's kind of crippling in a lot of ways because it limits the kind of job you can get because if it's too time-demanding, you're out. And many well-paid jobs demand quite a bit of time. So besides the direct effects of the disease, you get secondary effects like depression because you're stuck in a low-paying job with neither the motivation and ability to get out because you're sleepy all the ****ing time. it might f*ck up your relationships because you're so depressed. but you get the idea.