What is narcolepsy?
Narcolepsy is a neurological disorder caused by the brain’s confusion over normal sleep-wake cycles. The most commonly recognized symptom of narcolepsy is excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS), but cataplexy (sudden loss of voluntary muscle tone), vivid hallucinations during sleep onset or upon waking, and brief episodes of paralysis at the beginning or end of sleep are characteristics as well. Scientists believe that narcolepsy is a product of a disease affecting brain processes that regulate REM sleep (rapid eye movement sleep). While normally functioning individuals enter REM sleep 80-100 minutes after falling asleep, narcoleptic patients enter REM sleep within 5 minutes after falling asleep. In actuality, people with narcolepsy do not spend a greater proportion of time sleeping when compared to normal sleepers; most narcoleptics frequently wake up throughout the night.
Who is affected?
Narcolepsy affects approximately one in every two thousand Americans, and is the third highest sleep disorder diagnosed in patients at sleep clinics. Symptoms usually first occur between the ages of 10-25, but it can affect any age group, even small children. It affects males and females equally, but does show some variance among different ethnic groups (in Japan, the occurrence is one in every six hundred people). Nearly ten percent of diagnosed narcoleptic patients have a close relative with the disease. Educational and occupational problems frequently occur in narcoleptic individuals because their drowsiness interferes with normal activity – the effects can be very damaging on teens while social development is taking place.
What are the symptoms of Narcolepsy?
The symptoms of narcolepsy begin subtly, and usually worsen with time until a diagnosis can be made. The first symptom that people recognize is excessive daytime sleepiness, and it is the most consistently experienced phenomenon among all narcoleptic patients. EDS will cause feelings of exhaustion and depression, and will inhibit mental clarity, producing a constant state of overall mental cloudiness. Patients find staying awake during school lectures or while watching television to be very difficult, and will experience involuntary sleep episodes that usually last for seconds at a time. In rare cases, the sleep period will last for a few minutes to an hour or longer. Forty percent of narcoleptic patients will engage in ‘automatic behavior’ during these brief periods of sleep without any visible interruption, but their performance is almost always impaired. If taking notes, they will continue to write, but the writing may become illegible; if an episode happens while driving, the person may have an accident or drive off the road. The second most common symptom is cataplexy, which is a loss in muscle tone leading to feelings of weakness or even physical collapse. These cataplectic episodes are often misdiagnosed as seizure disorders, but no matter the severity, the patient will always remain conscious. Although it can occur spontaneously, cataplexy is most often triggered by laughter or other strong emotions. Sleep paralysis is closely related to cataplexy, and is very frightening when first experienced. Sleep paralysis occurs while falling asleep or while waking up, and is a temporary inability to move or speak. This phenomenon is similar to normal REM-generated inhibition of voluntary muscles, but most people do not experience the feeling of paralysis because it occurs when they are completely asleep. Sleep paralysis is a temporary condition, and all narcoleptic patients regain full movement when the attack is over. Hallucinations are another frightening experience for narcoleptic patients; the hallucinations can occur just prior to sleep or just after, and are extremely vivid. While the content of the hallucinations is usually visual, it can involve other senses as well.
How is it treated?
Unfortunately, the exact cause of narcolepsy is not known and there is no cure for the disease. Scientists have made progress in understanding the disease, but for now, medicine is administered to manage the symptoms of narcolepsy, specifically, EDS and cataplexy. In 1999, the FDA approved a drug called modafinil for the treatment of EDS, and it has proven to be effective at reducing daytime sleepiness. Two classes of drugs are used to treat cataplexy, and they are tricyclics and selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs). Because symptoms of narcolepsy often change, treatment is frequently modified, and drug therapy is supplemented with behavioral strategies. Patients are often encouraged to take short, regularly scheduled naps at their sleepiest times, should establish normal sleep patterns at night, and avoid alcohol and caffeine before bed.
The Narcolepsy experience! - An Action/Adventure game about Narcolepsy
Dreamers is an action/adventure game about a young man in his 20's who suffers from narcolepsy. He experiences sudden and uncontrollable attacks of deep sleep, sometimes accompanied by paralysis and hallucinations which can occur at anytime and anywhere. During these deep sleep attacks he finds himself dreaming very vividly. Lately, these attacks have started to occur more often, appear to last longer and are somehow getting stronger to the point where the dreams aren’t letting him wake up. Players must find a way out of each dream and use the limited time they have in the real world – when awake – to figure out what is happening to him before his next – and unavoidable – deep sleep attack. The game has also been described as “Silent Hill” meets “The Neverending Story” for its fairytale/fantasy/psychological horror theme.
With Dreamers, great importance has been placed to emphasize emotion, story and character, something rarely seen in games and what we believe will make this game stand out from games currently available in the market.
George P. Georgeadis | President, Executive Producer
George Georgeadis is the founder of Dreamgazers Interactive and the creator of Dreamers.
George was listed as one of the “Names To Look Out For in 2007” by Games™ Magazine in their January Issue (# 51)
For more information, please visit www.dreamgazers.com
Dreamgazers Interactive was founded in February 2004 and is an independent electronic entertainment company specializing in developing computer and console video games. The company vision is to break the mold by developing unique interactive experiences, games with rich storylines and deep character development and by working with cutting-edge next-generation technologies in graphics, sound and gameplay to bring something refreshing into the industry and exciting, fun, never-before seen experiences for gamers around the globe.
Ever since the sudden burst of amazing next-generation technologies, combined with the increasingly high budget requirements, the industry seems to be suffering from a cookie-cutter-game syndrome and so Dreamgazers Interactive aims to start a new notion for the industry, one that supports creativity, originality and innovation.