cataplexy
/ˈkatəˌplɛksi
/noun [mass noun]
A medical condition in which strong emotion or laughter causes a person to suffer sudden physical collapse though remaining conscious.Not enough people suffer from cataplexy for a major drug company to bother investing in research and development of this medicine....
- You will often also experience cataplexy (sudden loss of muscular control) triggered by emotion, especially amusement, anger, and elation.
- The combination of daytime sleepiness, cataplexy, sleep paralysis, and hypnagogic hallucinations suggested narcolepsy.
Derivatives
cataplectic
/ adjective ...- The dog had one more cataplectic episode 2 months after discharge and became more and more aggressive.
- She had a history of migraine headaches, but denied loss of consciousness and spontaneous cataplectic episodes.
- During a cataplectic attack, the person is completely awake and later will have total recall of the entire event.
Origin
Late 19th century: from Greek kataplēxis 'stupefaction', from kataplessein, from kata- 'down' + plēssein 'strike'.