Am J Psychiatry 1984; 141:428-431
Copyright © 1984 by American Psychiatric Association
Narcolepsy: preliminary retrospective study of psychiatric and psychosocial aspects
RR Krishnan, MR Volow, PP Miller and ST Carwile
A review of the charts of 24 ambulatory male veterans with narcolepsy or
narcolepsy/cataplexy showed an impressive number of psychiatric and
psychosocial difficulties in these patients, such as poor adjustment to the
illness, high unemployability, and disturbed intrafamily relationships.
Sixteen of the patients had psychiatric disorders according to DSM-III
criteria, including adjustment disorder, major depressive episode, alcohol
dependence, and personality disorder, but excluding any type of psychotic
disorder. The study suggests that narcoleptic/cataplectic patients have
more of these difficulties than narcoleptic patients do.
