Narcolepsy: preliminary retrospective study of psychiatric and psychosocial aspects

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.