4-10th SEPTEMBER 2023
The most important annual event for Idiopathic Hypersomnia is the Worldwide Idiopathic Hypersomnia Awareness Week® hosted by Hypersomnolence Australia. It is held annually in the first full week in September.
The Idiopathic Hypersomnia Awareness Week®’s social media is the central hub for the Idiopathic Hypersomnia Awareness Week event so make sure to "like" our Facebook page, and follow us on Twitter and Instagram.
It is the mission of Worldwide Idiopathic Hypersomnia Awareness Week® to raise awareness and to help improve the level of education of Idiopathic Hypersomnia (IH) among the general public, people living with IH, and medical professionals. Idiopathic Hypersomnia Awareness Week® is hosted by Hypersomnolence Australia and actively encourages other people and organisations to join in this effort. After all, we have similar goals and we champion this cause for the same reasons. We believe the key to success is a unified voice under one banner.
The IHAW is a truly worldwide event. We have worked with Ambassadors in the US, Canada, UK, Europe, Japan, and Australasia.
If you are an individual, group, or organisation and would like to hold an appropriate awareness event you can register your event by completing this form.
SCROLL DOWN FOR IMAGES TO SHARE ON SOCIAL MEDIA
Also check out our Living with IH page for more images
Follow the IHAW Social Media
and Share to raise awareness:
The Idiopathic Hypersomnia Awareness Week® is a registered Trademark in the United States and Australia and is recognised throughout the world as Idiopathic Hypersomnia's most significant annual worldwide awareness raising event. We are a non-profit organisation that does not receive funding and we do not charge membership. To allow us to continue to host this very important event we need your help!
How does the IDIOPATHIC HYPERSOMNIA AWARENESS WEEK® Logo represent Idiopathic Hypersomnia?
The wavy line means more than you might think!
While there may not yet be any biomarkers or other clinical tests that can confirm Idiopathic Hypersomnia various research over the years shows that people with Idiopathic Hypersomnia, (particularly the complete form) often have more “slow wave sleep” (also referred to as “deep sleep”) than the average person.
Delta waves, like other brain waves, are recorded by EEG during
an overnight sleep study (polysomnogram). Delta waves are usually associated with the deep sleep experienced during stage 3 of NREM sleep, also known as slow-wave sleep (SWS). Below is an example of what delta waves look like during Slow Wave Sleep (stage 3).
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The Idiopathic Hypersomnia Awareness Week® is a Worldwide collaborative event. If there are any individuals or organisations that would like to get involved or share their ideas please contact us at ihaweek@gmail.com
Sharing your experiences not only helps to raise awareness and educate others about what living with Idiopathic Hypersomnia is like it can also be empowering and can help light the way for those who are walking a similar path.
Go to our Living With IH page to read stories and perspectives shared by people living with Idiopathic Hypersomnia.
I guess you can see now how we came up with the image in our logo but did you notice that the shape of the “delta waves” in the IHAW logo depicts a horizontal face? ​
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The IDIOPATHIC HYPERSOMNIA AWARENESS WEEK® logo represents Idiopathic Hypersomnia in two ways. The delta waves represent the typical increased slow wave sleep experienced by people with Idiopathic Hypersomnia and the horizontal sleeping face is representative of the people with Idiopathic Hypersomnia.
Talinka Hill is the graphic designer responsible for the IDIOPATHIC HYPERSOMNIA AWARENESS WEEK® logo. We are extremely grateful to her for volunteering her time and talent to this project.
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Download a poster (or make your own) and take a photo of you holding it and share it online.
or share it without a photo
We have a range of TShirts designs. An example of them can be found in HA's Store.
We have processed custom orders for people all over the world so if you do not live in Australia and you would like to buy one of our TShirts please email us at: ihaweek@gmail.com.
Please DO NOT order via HA'S Store.
Please let us know what t-shirt design you would like and what country you live in. We will reply with your local size chart, a price and details for payment. Payment is made via a secure PayPal link.
View and Download a copy of Hypersomnolence Australia's Idiopathic Hypersomnia Factsheet
You can also download a copy of Hypersomnolence Australia and Hypersomnia Foundation Idiopathic Hypersomnia Trifold Brochures.
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Summary pages are available for each of the past Awareness Weeks: IHAW2019, IHAW2018, IHAW2017, IHAW2016
For a summary of the IHAW from 2013 -2015 click here.
LOOKING FOR YOUR LOCAL COMMUNITY?
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There are online Living with IH Community Groups in the USA, Canada, Australia/NZ and the EMEA (Europe/UK, Middle East and Africa)*. Meetings are held every month via Google Meet or other similar video conferencing.
The aim of the meetings is to provide people diagnosed with Idiopathic Hypersomnia (IH) with a community where they can offer and receive peer support and to assist with the isolation that many people with IH experience. Living with IH community groups are an informal monthly catch up where people diagnosed with IH can feel relaxed among others that truly do know what it is like living with IH.
See below for contact details of the LWIH community in your country/region.
*If you live outside of the USA, Canada or Australia/NZ feel free to join the EMEA group.
Living with IH USA
If you live in the US and would like to attend please contact Megan at hypersomnolenceus@gmail.com for more details.
Members of the LWIH USA community group are also welcome to join their Facebook group
Living with IH EMEA* (Europe/UK, Middle East and Africa)
Please contact Matt Baker at hypersomnolenceuk@gmail.com if you would like to attend and for more details.
You are also welcome to join the Living with IH EMEA Facebook group.
Living with IH Canada
Maryann, Rebecca and Kristin are the LWIH Canada LWIH group facilitators. If you live in Canada and would like to attend a meeting please contact hypersomnolencecan@gmail.com
Members of the LWIH Canada support group are also welcome to join their Facebook group:
Living with IH Australia/NZ
Living in Australia or NZ and would like to attend a meeting? Please complete this brief form
You can find more information on the support group page of our website. You can also email livingwithih@hypersomnolenceaustralia.org.au