Woman with rare brain condition collapses any time she sees someone ‘attractive’
Woman with rare brain condition collapses any time she sees someone ‘attractive’
A 32-year-old woman from the UK, suffering from a rare brain disorder, avoids eye contact with anyone she finds attractive to stop losing control of her body.
Kirsty Brown suffers from cataplexy, a condition in which a sudden strong emotion like anger, fear, or laughter can trigger muscle paralysis, according to a Mailonline report. The condition is rare but is commonly associated with narcolepsy, a sleeping disorder in which attacks last less than two minutes.
The 32-year-old, who hails from Cheshire, said she has five attacks of cataplexy per day. However, it can go up to 50 on a bay day.
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Due to the condition that can trigger a collapse or injury, Kirsty often keeps her head down in public and avoids eye contact at all costs.
“It’s so embarrassing. I was out shopping once and I saw someone that looked alright, and my legs just went and I had to cling onto my cousin for support,” said Kirsty.
“If I see someone attractive, my legs just go so I try not to put myself in situations where that could happen, or I try to keep my eyes down for my safety,” she added.
Kirsty said she is often tired because her sleep duration is very short. She adds that an attack can come at any time of the day or night.
“I can have an attack at the top of a flight of stairs if they’re steep because I don’t like heights. I’m trying to move to a new house that doesn’t have stairs or where I can have a stairlift,” she said.
The mum-of-two is now thinking of moving to a new house that doesn’t have stairs. By now, she has figured out that anger and laughter are the biggest triggers for her attack.
“Anger and laughter trigger it and me and my sisters are either arguing or
making each other laugh because they’re the funniest people I know,” she said.
The 32-year-old was born with the narcolepsy gene but its onset came early at the age of 9 by a head injury.