The U.S. military does not accept people who have a diagnosis of narcolepsy or a history of narcolepsy for active duty service.
The U.S. military has strict health requirements. Certain health conditions, including narcolepsy, cataplexy, or other hypersomnias, can disqualify a person from active duty military service.
If an active service member receives a narcolepsy diagnosis, it typically results in administrative separation from military service or in medical retirement, depending on the diagnosis and their response to treatment.
However, in some instances, a person may be reassigned to a different area or designated as not eligible for deployment or certain occupations.
A 2022 review of diagnostic discrepancies between civilian and military sleep centers suggests that civilian sleep centers may be more likely than military sleep centers to diagnose a person with narcolepsy.
Review authors suggest that other sleep disorders common in military personnel may complicate diagnosis.
A small 2021 study suggests that some people, especially in this population, may receive a mistaken diagnosis of narcolepsy and that care should be taken to rule out other sleep disorders.
Some participants who received an initial diagnosis of narcolepsy were later determined to have other sleep disorders, such as:
- insufficient sleep syndrome
- significant circadian rhythm sleep-wake disorders
- mild obstructive sleep apnea
Sleep disorders are common in active duty military personnel. About 50% have at least one sleep disorder. This can result from:
- shift work
- circadian misalignment, or opposite or shifting time zones on personnel deployed abroad
- psychiatric conditions, like post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
- insufficient sleep
Sleep disorders that may be more common in military members include:
It’s important to rule out similar conditions, as military service members are likely to have ongoing sleep restrictions.