‘Narcolepsy isn’t funny’ – living with a sleep disorder

The journalist and author Henry Nicholls has been struggling with several sleep disorders for decades, but for many it ’s just a jokeFor a serious examination of the devastating and incurable disability that isnarcolepsy, Henry Nicholls ’s book,Sleepy Head,is a surprisingly funny account.There is the obvious, if somewhat cruel, humour to be found in stories of people falling asleep in surprising places: in a small boat sailing around theFarne Islands, with the freezing North Sea cascading over the gunwale; while scuba diving; on a rollercoaster; at the dentist ’s; on the back of a horse; on a surfboard. But there are other extremely funny insights that Nicholls gives into the crepuscular world that narcoleptics inhabit: his laconic fretting over the etiquette of attending a CBT group for insomniacs, which he discovers he also suffers from while research ing the book. “A narcoleptic attending an insomnia clinic could be seen as the height of insensitivity,” he deadpans. Then there’s the attempt to solve sleep apnoea by learning the didgeridoo. (Didgetherapy, since you ask. It involves acrylic didgeridoos and is, apparently, quite effective.)Continue reading...

Source: Guardian Unlimited Science - February 25, 2018 Category: Science Authors: Amelia Hill Tags: Sleep Sleep apnoea Life and style Psychology Science Health & wellbeing Society Source Type: news