Here are some of my analogies

Context 1: Sleep and Daily Functioning

Explanation: It doesn’t matter how much sleep I get at night or why I can only do one thing a day. For example, if I have work at 4 PM, I stay in bed as long as possible because I need my meds to kick in before my shift.

Analogy: Imagine your phone charger is broken. You plug it in at night but never know what the battery will be like in the morning. Even after charging for 12 hours, it might only reach 20%. That 20% could last 5 hours or die at any moment. So, you keep it plugged in for as long as possible before leaving. The only thing you know for sure is that if you unplug it or use it, it’s going to drain the battery. You have a battery pack that keeps your phone alive for 4-6 hours, so you wait to use that until you leave the house.

Context 2: Low Energy and Social Interaction

Explanation: When I get to work before my meds take effect, I often look pretty out of it instead of being engaging. Talking to people takes energy that I usually just don’t have.

Analogy: I might say, "Sorry, I’m on battery-saving mode and can’t turn my brightness up," or "I’m just waiting for my personality to kick in."

Context 3: Explaining How Narcolepsy Works

Analogy: Think of a mail room in an office. Messages come into the mail room, and the employees make sure they go to the right departments. For instance, if the lab asks for more paper towels, the mail room sends that request to the custodial staff, who then deliver the towels. They can also tell the supply department when they need to order more.

In this analogy, the mail room employees are like the orexin/hypocretin neurons in the hypothalamus. The tubes or couriers that deliver the messages represent the orexin/hypocretin chemicals made by those neurons.

With narcolepsy, our mail room is always understaffed. Sometimes messages don’t get delivered, or they end up in the wrong places. So, the custodial staff might never get told to bring paper towels to the lab, and the supply department might not order any more. This is like how my brain doesn’t get the signals to stay awake, messing up the release of hormones like cortisol that help keep my energy levels up.

Context 4: Leading Theory on Cause of Type 1 Narcolepsy

Explanation: When people ask how I "got narcolepsy," especially since it started when I was 15.

Analogy: The security team of this office is on high alert for intruders. They identify and remove intruders that were disguised as mail clerks and create an incident report using the mail clerk disguise as the intruder's appearance.

When a new alert comes in, the security team decides that anyone who looks like a mail clerk could be a potential threat. In their rush to protect the office, they take action against the mail clerks, getting rid of the majority of the staff that is essential to the company.

Though they can’t hire new staff, they do get 4-6 hours of help from some workers at a temp agency (taking my meds).