Cataplexy: An Ode to Joy?
So I watched the movie, 'Ode to Joy' and cannot help but marvel at what it really means to live with that condition. The movies which stars Martin Freeman as Charlie a 40-year-old librarian suffering from cataplexy, causing him to faint whenever he experiences strong emotions, especially joy. Weird right? Really weird and hilarious as a movie.
You see, there are those things that happen to some people and when we hear about it, it leaves us wondering why?
What is Cataplexy and why should anyone collapse because they are happy to too sad?
Is there a crime to living a life with too much joy and or too much sadness?
After watching and learning about it and how the movie character tried to manage the situation, including setting up a woman he loves with his brother so he doesn't experience those emotions that will give him seizures, I decided to write about it.
What is Cataplexy?
Cataplexy is a medical condition in which a person is said to suffer sudden physical collapse or seizure whenever they experience strong emotion such as laughter, crying or terror.
According to Wikipedia, Cataplexy is a sudden and transient episode of muscle weakness accompanied by full conscious awareness, typically triggered by emotions such as laughing, crying, or terror.
Cataplexy is said to affect approximately 70% of people who are unable to regulate their sleep-wake cycles. In order word, Narcolepsy.
Is it serious?
From the movie ans what I have read so far, it is kind of serious because it it has to do with sudden collapse and seizure and if it happens to an individual when he is in a dangerous place say, close to a fire, sharp object etc, he may fall right in and even if conscious, he cannot function normally.
Medical News Today did an expansive write-up about the condition and proffered solutions to managing the situation.
Before it happens as with every medical condition, it comes with some symptoms which can allow a good enough understanding of the disorder.
Grimacing, Speech difficulty, flickering, facial twitching, jaw tremor, unusual tongue movements, drooping eyelid etc are some of the symptoms of Cataplexy.
Is there a prevention?
Well, I am sad to say that, there is no cure for cataplexy, and the treatment anyone suffering it can adopt apart from taking some prescribed medications is, symptom management coupled with a good sleep hygiene practice.
If you know the symptoms, you can be able to adopt a good enough management of the disorder and end up putting it under check. Like clockwork, you must keep at it and never stop because, it will come back stronger if you miss a step.
There is also the incidences of fatal injuries that may arise from a sudden fall if the person is in a dangerous environment.
Car driving and the operation of heavy machinery should be avoided by anyone suffering the disorder. There is also the need to have a hang on good stress management and relaxation technique.
One important management technique is for the individual to try and avoid situations that are likely to evoke strong emotions. He can also be in the midst of people who know about his condition so they can be his buffer.
In the movie 'Ode to Joy', Charlie's buffer was his brother who was always close by to help manage the situation by telling him some not too interesting and not too sad stories that will make him not collapse.
My understanding of this disorder is not enough to really put out a complete write up of how it can be managed in a day to day living where everyone has to fend for themselves. But, I understand that, it is not a good thing to not be able to enjoy life in its fullness.
What is a life without love?
What is life without joy and the beauties that puts a spark in the day?
How can one be able to live in this world without an atom of love driving them?
Why should anyone be unable to live and experience laughter, joy, hurt, pain, terror and fear?
Cataplexy is a disorder that makes a person to suffer sudden physical collapse or seizure whenever they experience strong emotion such as laughter, crying or terror.
It is serious and I cannot imagine what will happen to someone who constantly collapses every time he is happy or too sad.