Narcolepsy is a frequently misunderstood disorder. People who are unfamiliar with the nature of the disorder often assign motivational causes, such as laziness or lack of willpower, to the symptoms displayed by a person with narcolepsy. The fact is that narcolepsy is a biologically based disorder, and having narcolepsy is no more a person's fault than having diabetes. Biological conditions and their medical symptoms can’t be simply “willed away”. False assumptions that they can be may have the effect of lowering the self-esteem of a person with narcolepsy. It must be explained to people with narcolepsy (as well as their family members, friends, and coworkers) that narcolepsy is a biological disorder and cannot be voluntarily controlled. Family and group therapy may be valuable in learning to accept the illness and establish reasonable expectations.