WEBVTT

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[ Background Music ]

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>> Welcome back.

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We are bringing you some
of the most compelling

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"Mysteries of the Mind" tonight.

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And this one strikes
during adolescence

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and makes otherwise
normal teenagers collapse.

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Not just into a deep sleep, but
into a mysterious netherworld,

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a world filled with
hallucination, paralysis,

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and strange sensations that
strike without warning,

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linger without a cure,
and can last a lifetime.

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[ Music ]

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[ Background Music ]

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>> An insatiable need for sleep.

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Sudden episodes of paralysis,
vivid hallucinations,

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this is the life
of a narcoleptic.

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>> I don't really even
remember a whole lot

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of my sophomore year
just because I slept

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so much through my classes.

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>> Anthony Raymond was
your normal high school kid

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who loved acting and the theater
then his life mysteriously

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started to change.

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>> I just started feeling
sleepy throughout the day.

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I didn't think much of it.

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I just thought it was
some weird puberty thing.

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[ Background Noise ]

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>> Occasional daily naps turned
into a constant need for sleep

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that he could never satisfy.

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>> I was sleeping every
chance I could get.

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In addition, I started
experiencing these other weird

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symptoms like sleep
paralysis at night.

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>> And what is it exactly?

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>> I'll be lying down, and all

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of a sudden I can't move
any part of my body.

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And usually what will accompany
this are these hallucinations,

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which not only do I see
things and hear things,

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but I also feel things.

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I can remember one time
being completely paralyzed

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and feeling a fox kind
of crawl under my back.

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>> Can you scream when you
are paralyzed like that?

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>> No. I can't scream.

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>> You can't move
your body at all?

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>> But eventually
I break out of it

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and I will scream or something.

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[ Inaudible Remark ]

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[ Background Talking ]

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>> And then there's
the most difficult

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and potentially dangerous
symptom

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of narcolepsy, cataplexy.

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At any given moment
Anthony would collapse.

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He would be paralyzed
for minutes at a time.

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>> Probably the scariest
thing is falling to the ground

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and not being totally sure
that you are going to fall

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in a position where
you can breathe.

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I could fall in a space where
my face might be smothered

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by a cushion or something.

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>> In extreme cases,
like this Scottish girl,

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it can happen more than 45
times a day, usually brought

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on by emotional excitement like
laughing, anger or surprise.

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Experts estimate
that at least half

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of narcoleptics have cataplexy.

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For Anthony, these sometimes
daily episodes make driving,

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working, and dating
nearly impossible.

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>> It starts in the
neck and the tongue,

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unable to move those parts.

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And then it goes to the
legs and then eventually,

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you can't move anything.

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>> And there's nothing you can
do to pull yourself out of it?

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>> Nothing I can do except wait.

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I can try really hard to
move and every now and then,

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I'll gain just enough
strength that I might be able

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to jerk my arm up or something.

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>> And are you consciously
thinking I'm going to ride this

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out for another minute?

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>> Yeah. It's just kinda
like that bad dream

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where you can't move
and you can't scream.

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>> Anthony's was
really a classical case

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when he came to me.

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This is a perfect slide here.

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[ Background Talking ]

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>> Dr. Emmanuel Mignot
is Anthony's doctor

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and the director of
Center for Narcolepsy

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at Stanford University.

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He says that despite all
the sleep Anthony gets,

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he's never well rested.

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>> They are exhausted
all the time.

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They take little naps,
they feel better.

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But then after one hour or two
hours, it just starts again.

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And at night the same thing,
just exhausted and they arrive

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in their bed, boom,
they sleep and then

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after two hours they wake
up unable to fall asleep.

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Basically the cause of
narcolepsy is very simple.

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[ Background Talking ]

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[ Background Music ]

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>> Narcoleptics can't
produce a brain chemical

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called Hypocretin.

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Normally it helps
you stay awake.

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Without it narcoleptics
constantly fall it REM

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or dream sleep, but
they do not fall

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into the deep restorative
stages of sleep so they wake

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up too soon, and wake up tired.

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The mystery, what
causes the death

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of these precious brain cells?

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And why does it often
happen during adolescence?

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The other mystery,
how to restore

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or replace those cells
and cure narcolepsy?

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Fortunately, doctors
have developed drugs

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to treat the symptoms.

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>> It's kind of gross,
but it does the trick.

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>> Every day and every night,
Anthony takes a carefully-

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prescribed mix of drugs.

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>> I have got about 20
minutes and I'll be asleep.

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>> One drug gets
Anthony's brain and body

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into a deep restorative
sleep, so he's well rested.

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It also helps reduce cataplexy,
but it doesn't work for long.

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Anthony needs a second dose
in the middle of the night.

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>> It is 2:11 a.m.
and I am awake again.

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>> Anthony also needs a
stimulant during the day

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and antidepressants to ease
his constant sleepiness

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and cataplexy.

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>> OK, it's now 7:30 in
the morning and I just--

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[ Background Talking ]

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>> But even with
all those drugs,

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Anthony can only stay
awake for about six hours

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at a time during the day

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so he must follow a
strict daily nap schedule.

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[ Background Music ]

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>> The first is in mid-morning,

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usually in his first
or second class.

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Anthony closes his eyes
for 15 to 20 minutes.

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>> If he's sleeping, he's
going to miss something

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but I think he more than
compensates for that.

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>> He also has to take a nap the
minute he gets home from school.

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>> If I postpone
a nap long enough,

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I just can't really function.

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>> But no matter what
medication he takes,

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or how many naps he has, Anthony
still has occasional bouts

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of cataplexy.

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[ Inaudible Remark ]

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[ Background Talking ]

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>> See his bobbing head here?

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This one happened while
he was watching a comedy.

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But despite all these
challenges,

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Anthony still has big
plans for the future.

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He starts college in September
and hopes to become a teacher.

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With no cure on the
horizon, Anthony is ready

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for a life he knows
will be a nonstop,

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24-hour game of beat the clock.

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>> I can live the rest
of my life like this.

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Narcolepsy is a problem,
but it's not the worst thing

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in the world for me
that could happen.

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And I'm still living.

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>> And you know you
can handle it.

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>> Yeah.

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>> And Anthony is doing a whole
lot more than just handling it.

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He happens to be thriving.

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He is far from alone
though when it comes

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to struggling with narcolepsy.

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The disorder effects
about 135,000 Americans.

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Now in most cases,
symptoms first appear

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between the ages of 10 and 25.

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We're gonna take a short break.

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We'll be right back.