Staying Awake For 30 Days: Surviving Sleeplessness

Sleep is essential for our physical, mental, and emotional health. Even after just 24 hours without sleep, we start to experience symptoms like fatigue, irritability, and impaired concentration. But what happens when we go even longer without sleep? Is it possible to survive 30 days without any shut-eye? In this article, we will explore the effects of sleep deprivation and find out just how long humans can go without sleep.

After 24 hours: drowsiness, impaired vision, and impaired hearing

After 24 hours without sleep, you will likely experience drowsiness and impaired vision and hearing.

Drowsiness is a state of sleepiness or exhaustion. You may feel “off” and experience an increased risk of errors and accidents in everyday tasks. This is because your ability to make decisions is impaired, and your hand-eye coordination is reduced. Driving after 24 hours of wakefulness is similar to driving with a blood alcohol concentration above the legal limit.

Impaired vision may manifest as dry, itchy, or bloodshot eyes. Your eyes may produce fewer tears after a night of insufficient sleep, making them more susceptible to infection. You may also experience eye twitches or spasms, increased sensitivity to light, or blurry vision.

Hearing impairment can also occur, though the specific effects are unclear.

It is important to note that the effects of sleep deprivation become more severe with time. While 24 hours of missed sleep may not cause major health problems, the longer you stay awake, the more pronounced and less tolerable the symptoms will become.

After 36 hours: increased mood changes, hallucinations, and impaired speech

After 36 hours of sleep deprivation, you will likely experience decreased motivation, inflexible reasoning, and impaired speech. Your speech impairments may manifest as poor word choice and intonation. At this point, your body is conserving energy, and you will probably crave fatty proteins.

In addition to the above, after 36 hours of no sleep, you may experience increased mood changes and hallucinations. Sleep deprivation is associated with increases in negative moods (anger, frustration, irritability, sadness) and decreases in positive moods. You may also experience a depressed mood, anxiety, or paranoia.

Hallucinations are also common after 36 hours of sleep deprivation. You may see or hear things that aren't there, or misinterpret something that is real. For example, you may see a sign and think it's a person.

After 48 hours: depersonalisation, derealisation, and impaired immune system

After 48 hours without sleep, you will experience a range of emotional, cognitive, physical, and mental health symptoms. In addition, you may start to feel depersonalization and derealisation, which are problems with accurately perceiving yourself and reality.

Depersonalisation and Derealisation

During depersonalisation, you may experience feelings of apathy and euphoria, auditory disturbances, and feelings of being outside your body. You may also find it difficult to form thoughts and sentences.

Derealisation is the feeling of being detached from reality. It has been associated with anxiety and depression, both of which have a bidirectional relationship with sleep.

Other Symptoms After 48 Hours

At this point, your cognitive performance will worsen, and you will become very fatigued. The brain will start entering brief periods of complete unconsciousness, also known as microsleep. Microsleep occurs involuntarily and can last for several seconds.

Staying awake for 48 hours also disrupts the immune system. Inflammatory markers, which help your body prevent and target illnesses, start to circulate at increased levels. Research has shown that natural killer (NK) cell activity decreases with sleep deprivation. NK cells respond to immediate threats to your health, such as viruses or bacteria.

After 72 hours: delusions, psychosis, and difficulty interpreting the world

After 72 hours without sleep, an individual will experience a range of symptoms, including delusions, psychosis, and difficulty interpreting the world.

Delusions are false beliefs that are firmly held by the individual, even when presented with evidence to the contrary. For example, a person experiencing delusions may believe that someone has sent them on a secret mission or that they are being spied on. These beliefs can be so strong that they result in paranoia and feelings of persecution.

Psychosis is a loss of touch with reality and can include both hallucinations and delusions. Hallucinations are perceptual anomalies where an individual senses things that are not real, such as seeing lights or objects that are not there or hearing sounds or voices. These hallucinations can be visual, auditory, or tactile, and they can be simple or complex. For example, a person may see something growing from the floor (simple visual hallucination) or see fully formed images of people or objects that are not there (complex visual hallucination).

The combination of delusions and hallucinations can lead to a state of acute psychosis, where the individual has difficulty interpreting the world and maintaining a grip on reality. This can result in bizarre behaviour, confusion, and disordered thoughts. The person may also experience dissociation and depersonalisation, feeling detached from their body or like they are observing themselves from a distance.

After 72 hours of sleep deprivation, these symptoms can be intense and severely impact an individual's mood and cognition. It is important to note that the effects of sleep deprivation are cumulative, and the longer a person goes without sleep, the worse the symptoms will become. Therefore, after 72 hours, the individual is likely to be experiencing a severe disruption to their mental and physical health, with profound effects on their ability to think and function.

After 96 hours: severe distortion of reality

After 96 hours without sleep, your perception of reality will be severely distorted. This is the fifth stage of sleep deprivation, and it can be dangerous for your body. You may experience symptoms similar to acute psychosis, including complex visual misperceptions and complete sleep deprivation hallucinations. Your urge to sleep will also be unbearable.

At this stage, your body and mind will be under extreme stress. Your ability to think and function will be significantly impaired, and you may experience a range of emotional and cognitive difficulties. You may feel detached from yourself and others, and your thoughts may become jumbled. You may also have trouble forming thoughts, finding words, and composing sentences. Your memory will be affected, and you may forget names and other details.

Your perception of time will also be distorted, and you may feel that time is passing slowly or in a "hodgepodge." You may also experience delusions, such as believing that others are plotting against you or that you have been chosen for a secret mission. These delusions can become more elaborate and firmly held as time goes on.

It is important to note that the effects of sleep deprivation can vary from person to person, and some people may experience more severe symptoms earlier on. Additionally, the amount of time it takes to recover from sleep deprivation can vary, and it may take days or even weeks for symptoms to completely improve. Seeking medical advice is recommended if you are experiencing severe sleep deprivation or if symptoms persist after getting adequate sleep.

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