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® has grown from its first event in 2013 so in 2016 we decided it deserved its own social media. The Idiopathic Hypersomnia Awareness Week now has its own Facebook page, Twitter and Instagram.
Idiopathic Hypersomnia Awareness Week®’s social media will be the central hub for the Idiopathic Hypersomnia Awareness Week event so make sure to “follow” on Twitter and Instagram and “like” the Facebook page.
It is the mission of Idiopathic Hypersomnia Awareness Week® to raise awareness and to help improve the level of education of Idiopathic Hypersomnia among the general public, Hypersomnia patients 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 Project Coordinators in the UK, Japan and Australia and we work with ambassadors in parts of Europe and the US.
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.
If you are an individual looking for information about being an IHAW Ambassador click here.
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
IHAW2020 - 7-14th September 2020
The IHAW2020 page will be loaded closer to the date.
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.
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 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) typically 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).
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?
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.
Don't forget to follow the IHAW social media
Images to download and share
There are more images you can share on the other IHAW pages - links above