Narcolepsy occurs when you have an overwhelming appetite for sleep during the day time. It can be described as an inability to resist sleep. The 4 key symptoms are excessive daytime sleepiness (unable to stay awake), sleep paralysis (inability to talk or move), hypnagogic hallucinations (vivid, scary dreams that result from falling immediately into a  severe form of REM sleep), and cataplexy (a sudden loss of muscle tones causing you to partially or totally collapse).

It is not narcolepsy if you fall asleep during a boring lecture and you’re sleep deprived.

National Institutes of Health. (n.d.). What Are the Signs and Symptoms of Narcolepsy? Retrieved April 13, 2017, from https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/health-topics/topics/nar/signs