Twenty-year-old preschool teaching intern He Xiran was known among her friends as both a “sleeping beauty” and the “class clown.” Then she began collapsing without warning at school and drifting off mid-laugh in front of parents. Everyone thought she was just exhausted. Only she knew that her “factory settings” were breaking down, one by one.
From lighting her first menthol cigarette in the fire escape, to hearing “suspected narcolepsy” in the neurology clinic, to a psychologist's diagnosis of “smiling depression,” it took her half a year to learn one thing: turns out, it's okay not to smile.
Hello teacher, I am also a kindergarten teacher who is troubled by narcolepsy. Doubao recommended your work to me. I didn't expect that there are people like me. I also wanted to write about my experience, but I can no longer distinguish between reality and dreams. So I'm going to read your article and see if it jogs some memories. Hope we have more communication. Hopefully we will all be better off.