Idiopathic hypersomnia profoundly affects work, education, and quality of life. Patients are often too sleepy to work or attend school regularly, and they are predisposed "to develop serious performance decrements in multiple areas of function as well as to potentially life-threatening domestic, work-related and driving accidents."[6] Furthermore, these risks are higher for idiopathic hypersomnia patients than for those with sleep apnea or severe insomnia. In fact, "the most severe cases of daytime somnolence are found in patients affected by narcolepsy or idiopathic hypersomnia."[6] And idiopathic hypersomnia is often as, if not more, disabling than narcolepsy;[2] surprisingly, excessive daytime sleepiness is even more handicapping than the cataplectic attacks of narcolepsy.[6]