A review by skylarkochava
Wide Awake and Dreaming: A Memoir of Narcolepsy by Julie Flygare

5.0

This book was incredible. Well-written, great pacing, hard to put down. And what a story!

I knew narcolepsy was a very serious disorder (and not something to laugh at), but the details of the symptoms and living with it were very different from what I expected. It's really amazing the author has accomplished so much with the brain fighting her so much.

She's right that you don't think you know anyone with narcolepsy (at least I don't think I do), but the occurrence rate seems pretty high for that to be true for so many people. Maybe I know someone with narcolepsy and don't even know it??

The more I hear about and meet people with "invisible illnesses," the more I have tried to judge strangers favorably. You don't know why someone who "looks fine" is parking in a handicapped spot. You can't judge the capabilities of a friend with a chronic pain disorder. You. Just. Don't. Know. It's scary how our bodies can turn against us and that it seems to be so commonly diagnosed today. Is there really a higher occurrence of these invisible disorders, or are we just better at diagnosing?

I'm very glad I read this.