An Indonesian 17-year-old dubbed as “The Sleeping Beauty” has created a buzz in the netizens.
Nothing nor anyone has been able to wake her up from her sleep. She can sleep from a couple of days to weeks without waking up.
Though it is compared to the fairytale princess who slept for a long time and woke up all perfect and glowing, this condition is nothing but a sad phenomenon.
Siti Raisa Miranda, or Echa, has a rare disorder that causes recurring periods of excessive sleepiness formally called Kleine-Levin syndrome (KLS). People with this condition can sleep for 20 hours to months and will have little to no memory of that time.
This unique syndrome happens only to 1 person in a million individuals and still doesn’t have a cure.
In 2017 when Echa was just 13 years old, was the first time that she slept for 13 days which is what convinced her family to take her to a hospital and there had her diagnosed.
During her episodes, her parents take care of her by feeding her, changing her clothes, and trips on the toilet which is a surprise in her sleeping state.
Sleeping for days might be a good idea or a dream for others who lack sleep but a human’s body will suffer the consequences.
Episodes can trigger symptoms such as:
- hallucinations
- disorientation
- irritability
- changes in behavior
- increased appetite
- excessive sex drive
- confusion
Echa, like everyone who has the Sleeping beauty syndrome, has it difficult to live a normal life like attending school, work, or participating in other activities especially as the sleepiness can occur anytime.
