A Letter To

This letter is on behalf of the countless PWN who have had to deal with insensitive remarks from people they know and love. It makes my heart hurt whenever I hear some of the things we have to hear from the people who are supposed to love support and be there for us.
I am sick of the way many PWN  are treated. I am tired of the asinine comments and the insults that are hurled at us. I say us, because I don't think there is one single person with Narcolepsy hasn't gone through the indignity of being put down in some way for something that is beyond their control. In fact, I don't think anyone with any invisible, chronic illness has not gone through it.
For all of you non supportive, judgmental  people,  I think you need to be educated on a few things, since many of you seem to be the lazy ones. Yes, I used the word lazy because many of you are too lazy to take just a little  bit of time out of your day to actually learn about conditions like Narcolepsy,  Fibromyalgia,  Neuropathy, etc. to know that these are real medical conditions, with real debilitating effects, that can wreak havoc on the lives of those who suffer from these conditions.  Instead, you choose to sit on your judgmental high horses, making speculations and conjecture about an illness you know nothing about.
Here is a fact. Narcolepsy is an incurable, neurological illness. It is not a figment of the imagination. It is not something that will just pass with rest, like the flu. In case some of you still don't get what that means, it means that a part of the brain has been damaged. The brain,  that would be the same complex organ that serves as the center of the nervous system. You see, the brain contains these neuropeptides called orexin/hypocretin. These neuropeptides regulate a number of things such as wakefulness, arousal, and hunger, among other things. Now, I could also go into a number of other things, such a histamine levels, serotonin levels, dopamine levels, etc but I am still learning all the complex parts they play in neurological functioning and how the effect PWN also. I will say that motivation and cognitive thinking are also greatly impaired due to these physiological, not psychological issues. If most of you would take the time to do just a little bit of reading so you would understand the effects of Narcolepsy on the lives of your loved ones, you wouldn't need me to tell you though. If you don't want to read about it then you can at least explore other options like speaking with a doctor or medical expert familiar with the condition or even going to YouTube. I would caution you, that with the latter option, there is still a good deal of misinformation out there.
Before I end my little tirade, I want to bring up another issue. I have heard, on many occasions,  and experienced it myself,  comments on what we hope to accomplish by speaking to others using social media instead of consulting a doctor.  For one thing, there are very few medical experts trained in treating Narcolepsy. Sometimes, the only people that can understand what you are going through are people who are going through the same thing. Sometimes,  you just need to talk to someone who is going through the same thing to help you get an understanding. It has nothing to do with wanting pity. Yeah, sometimes we may have a pity party and then we pull ourselves up and start again. It may take a bit more effort and it may take a lot out of us, but we keep trying. For those who don't understand that effort, let me clarify on last thing. We are probably harder on ourselves than anyone. Don't think one day goes by that we don't beat ourselves up over what we couldn't or didn't do. Don't think there is a day that goes by that we don't wonder, "Did I try hard enough?" Don't believe for that for one second, we don't feel the guilt eating away at us when we have tried until we just can't try anymore. Believe me when I say, that the weight of your criticism only serves to add to the already almost overbearingly crushing weight of guilt we already feel, so if you thing criticizing and judging are just going to give us some magic push that will get the adrenaline going and pump us full of some magic burst of energy, you are sadly mistaken.
I don't expect that this rant  will cause some of you to have some big epiphany. I do hope that it does encourage some of you to try to be a bit more empathetic and become a bit more educated. I hope that it will make some if you think twice before making some insensitive, judgmental, uneducated comment that can only do more harm than good. I wish I had an accurate estimate I could post for the number of people who have taken their lives due to Narcolepsy.  I don't have the percentage of people who have lost homes, families,  jobs and careers due to Narcolepsy either. I can tell you, the numbers are much higher than you imagine. Those are things you need to seriously consider thinking about the next time you decide to give " constructive criticism. "