Why I don't support Narcolepsy Awareness Groups

Facebook asked if I wanted to do a fundraiser for a couple of the Narcolepsy Awareness groups. I do not and I will tell you exactly why. You will never find two people with Narcolepsy who struggle the same. There are varying degrees. There are some fairly high functioning PWN. There are PWN who aren't necessarily high functioning but respond fairly well to treatment, vastly improving their quality of life. There are some PWN who struggle to do simple everyday things. My issue with the more prominent awareness groups is that they are run by the higher functioning individuals.  Because they are higher functioning they don't seem to be able to relate to those who suffer from the more debilitating symptoms. Anytime there is any type of media or information put out, the emphasis is placed on those PWN who push through or overcome "in spite of." My focus are the PWN who can't push through, the PWN who have been alienated, disparaged, or unfairly judged because of their inability to push through.My focus is for the friends and family members who don't get it, in hopes that they can learn. There are too many heartbreaking stories from PWN who don't have the support or understanding they need. I have tried to get a number for the statistics of PWN who commit suicide but there are no studies that I could find. I can only tell of the stories from my wonderful Narcolepsy community.
Unfortunately, if you look at some of these organizations the information and optics that they put out would have you believing that with enough willpower and determination PWN should be overcome their illness. The plain facts are, not everyone can do that. It isn't for a lack of effort. The fact is Narcolepsy can be very debilitating.  I won't go into all of that now, but I will address it later.  

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