Which condition is characterized by excessive daytime sleepiness and sudden sleep attacks?

Narcolepsy is a neurological disorder that affects the control of sleep and wakefulness, leading to excessive daytime sleepiness and sudden sleep attacks, which can occur without any warning. Individuals with narcolepsy often experience an uncontrollable urge to sleep during the day, which can disrupt normal activities and impair functioning. This condition is distinct from others due to the sudden episodes of sleep that can happen at any time, even during activities such as driving or conversing.

In narcolepsy, these sleep attacks can last from a few seconds to several minutes, and they are often accompanied by cataplexy—a sudden loss of muscle tone triggered by strong emotions. Furthermore, individuals may also experience other related symptoms such as sleep paralysis and hypnagogic hallucinations, making it a unique disorder in the landscape of sleep-related conditions.

In contrast, insomnia primarily involves difficulty in falling or staying asleep, sleep apnea is characterized by obstructed breathing during sleep, leading to frequent awakenings, and restless leg syndrome is a condition that causes uncomfortable sensations in the legs and an uncontrollable urge to move them, especially at night. While these conditions can cause their own challenges with sleep and fatigue, they do not encompass the specific symptomatology and episode nature that define narcole