Billie Hodgson is the rare person who can text “ROFL” and not be accused of hyperbole. The UK teen suffers from a rare condition that causes her to fall to the floor every time she laughs.
The 17-year-old has cataplexy, a neurological disorder characterized by sudden, uncontrollable muscle paralysis when she experiences a strong emotion, according to the National Sleep Foundation. Cataplexy often occurs in conjunction with narcolepsy, a disorder marked by spontaneous “sleep attacks,” which are paradoxically sparked by excitement.
“It’s so hard to explain how it feels when I collapse,” says Hodgson, adding that the condition is especially frustrating because she’s conscious during the paralysis. “It’s like you have no control over your body.”
It would be nearly impossible for a teen’s social life not to suffer because of it.
The naturally bubbly high-school senior says she tries “not to be as involved in funny situations to avoid cataplexy, especially in front of those who are not as familiar with it.”
And while Hodgson says her friends try not to crack jokes in front of her, the silence often triggers awkward laughter all the same. Fortunately, she has learned to see the funny side of her condition, admitting “I have to make light of it.”
Still, it’s been a long road for Hodgson, who only found out she had cataplexy last spring despite suffering bouts of laughter-sparked paralysis throughout her school years.
The first episode she can remember happened when “she fell to her knees” while laughing with a friend at secondary school when she was 14. Unfortunately, doctors at the time attributed the incident to the fact that “everyone shakes when they laugh.”
While frightening, the episodes are not dangerous as long as the individual finds a safe place in which to collapse, according to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke.
However, cataplexy is incurable. Those who suffer from it must take daily medication in an attempt to manage the symptoms.
The diagnosis has triggered mixed emotions for Hodgson, who lives at home with her mom and sister. While she was relieved that she could start treatment, the high schooler was also scared how it would affect her life.
Indeed, along with hindering Hodgson’s social life, the cataplexy has prevented her from driving — and dashed her lifelong dream of becoming a midwife because she can’t control her hand movements.
“It’s stopping me from doing what I really want to do and now I don’t know what to apply for at university,” the teen says.
Still, Hodgson hopes to “raise awareness” about the anomalous disorder: “I want to show cataplexy isn’t like what people stereotypically think — it can have a major impact on someone’s life.”
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