Patients showing the narcoleptic syndrome have in common a characteristic background of emotional conflict. They feel caught in a life pattern to which they are expected to conform, but which they deeply resent. They become motivated by a need for autonomy and for self-differentiation but are frustrated in their efforts. In the tension of the developing dilemma, the narcoleptic syndrome appears. As a result, a realistic showdown with its associated anxieties is avoided and a substitute and more acceptable source of concern is provided. At no point in their report do the authors even touch upon the problem of the specific etiology of the narcoleptic syndrome.