talia-vin

I saw you dance video yesterday, and it was both terrifying and heart breaking, especially when you were trying to argue with your own body. Props for continuing to dance and teach, even if you can't perform- that takes a lot of willpower.

1. Before you were diagnosed, during testing, and during the actual diagnosis, were you afraid of what you might hear? Are you ever ashamed of having narcolepsy? Like, does it ever feel like it would be easier if you had something else, something "less funny" so people would be more serious regarding your condition?
2. Do you have anything else that exacerbates it, like depression?
3. Do you notice more/less episodes depending on seasons, or is it fairly consistent?

Hope nothing was offensive, and thanks for the AMA!

It's got to be the worst feeling in the world, trying to ask for help or understanding and being written off as a fake. I am truly sorry you have to deal with that :/ I think most people underestimate how bad it can be because they don't see the parts where you're fighting just to make it through a sentence or not to fall on the ground, they just see things like the dude from Rat Race or think you get to take naps all day, like a cat.

Do you think the anxiety is caused by the constant threat of narcolepsy? Like you're anxious that it's a daily possibility that something could happen, so you trigger an attack, which builds future anxiety, repeat? That has to be so frustrating :(

Thanks for taking the time to respond! I'm pretty interested in sleep disorders, and your video was posted the day after I'd read up on some stuff regarding delayed sleep phase disorder so I was excited to see you were doing an AMA. It's crazy how something as basic as sleep can be so complicated and hard to regulate.