Narcolepsy - Society and Culture

Society and Culture

The Little Sleep, a detective novel by Paul Tremblay, portrayed the main character, Mark G., as having narcolepsy. The character deals with daily, even hourly frustrations due to the general cognitive fog, not being able to trust his own memory and even not being able to drive. Mark shares the frustration felt by many with narcolepsy, that his disease is not taken seriously and that he is "the punch line in a joke".

In Classic Peanuts, Marcy convinces Peppermint Patty that she has narcolepsy. When she is tested, however, it turns out that she just stays up too late and hence is why she falls asleep in school.

In the Mysterious Benedict Society series by Trenton Lee Stewart, two characters, Mr. Benedict and Mr. Curtain, both suffer from narcolepsy.

My Own Private Idaho helped educate the public about narcolepsy through the character of Mike Waters, played by River Phoenix, who has cataplexic hallucinations.

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