[Excessive daytime somnolence and its psychosocial sequelae]

Excessive daytime sleepiness arises frequently as a consequence of insufficient or shortened nocturnal sleep, or as a result of poor sleeps hygiene. One of the most common dyssomnias with imperative sleepiness is narcolepsy. Narcolepsy is a chronic disease that greatly affects quality of life. The present study of 57 patients shows that the negative assessment is partly due to the subjective views exhibited by the narcoleptic personality prone to underestimation, negative self-image and depressive disposition. The personality traits may be due to an adaptation reaction to the disease but also to the biological predisposition. Comparison with population data for our Republic brought no evidence of progress at education or family life being adversely affected by narcolepsy, however, decreased assertion in employment and limitation in self-realization in free time was an explicit consequence of the disease. All 57 patients reported excessive daytime sleepiness as the most discomforting symptom that in 40% of them was responsible for career curtailment in a productive age and for living on partial or full disability.