For 22-year-old Daisy Johnson this is an everyday reality.
“Through high school I was constantly falling asleep on the desk,” she says. “I got an award in English for being able to sleep through the apocalypse.”
Daisy was diagnosed with narcolepsy and cataplexy just after she finished high school.
“When I finally did get a diagnosis it was awesome,” she says. “It was like so there is something wrong with me and that’s a good thing because now I know and it was a relief.”
However like many people, Daisy was not really aware of what the sleeping disorder really entailed.
“My first thought was Rowan Atkinson from Rat Race and there’s also Deuce Bigalow with the chick who has her hair tied back,” she laughs.
But narcolepsy is no laughing matter. The illness has meant Daisy has had to seriously limit her lifestyle in order to manage the disorder.
“I wanted to be a dentist,” she says. “I couldn’t stay awake in math, I couldn’t stay awake in science, I didn’t even get in to uni properly.”
“I guess you do have to limit your lifestyle, which sucks”
“Being 22 you want to do everything. The world’s your oyster, you want to go travelling, go out, but you can’t.”
For Daisy the biggest challenge has been learning to embrace the condition.
“It would be nice to have a normal life.”
“But it’s refreshing to know that there’s something else that defines you.”
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