The Dangers Of Sleep Deprivation: 8 Days Without Sleep

Sleep is a vital part of our lives, and going without it can have serious consequences. While the exact amount of time a person can survive without sleep is unknown, the current world record is held by 17-year-old Randy Gardner, who stayed awake for 11 days and 25 minutes in 1963. After 8 days without sleep, one can expect to experience severe symptoms such as hallucinations, extreme fatigue, and even symptoms similar to acute psychosis. The body and mind will be under immense stress, with hormone imbalances, a slowed metabolism, and a weakened immune system. Additionally, the risk of dangerous accidents increases as sleep deprivation impairs cognitive function and perception.

After 24 hours, you'll experience impaired coordination and memory

After 24 hours of sleep deprivation, you'll experience impaired coordination and memory.

Impaired Coordination

According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), being awake for 24 hours is similar to having a blood alcohol concentration of 0.08%. Driving impairment can be observed at 0.05%.

Dr. Michelle Drerup, a behavioural sleep medicine expert, says that going 24 hours without sleep is comparable to having a blood alcohol content of 0.1%, which is above the legal limit in the United States.

She adds that the types of impairment you see are similar to intoxication:

• Reduced reaction time
• Impaired judgment and decision-making
• Diminished memory and attention
• Impaired vision, hearing and hand-eye coordination
• Tremors and muscle tension

Diminished Memory

Research suggests that sleep deprivation both before and after encoding has a detrimental effect on memory for newly learned material.

According to Dr. Drerup, another thing that happens when you don't sleep for 24 hours is an increase in stress hormones, like cortisol and adrenaline.

After 36 hours, you may start to hallucinate

After 36 hours of sleep deprivation, you may start to hallucinate. This is when you see, hear, or feel things that aren't actually there. Hallucinations can affect any of the five senses: auditory, gustatory (taste), olfactory (smell), tactile (touch), or visual. Visual hallucinations are the most common.

The effects of 36 hours without sleep are intense and can be dangerous. Your body will be under considerable stress, and you will experience a range of physical and mental symptoms. Your sleep-wake cycle helps regulate the release of certain hormones, including cortisol, insulin, and human growth hormone. As a result, going without sleep for an extended period can alter several bodily functions.

Some of the effects of going 36 hours without sleep include decreased motivation, inflexible reasoning, and speech impairments, such as poor word choice and intonation. You will also experience an overwhelming urge to sleep and extreme fatigue. You may start to have microsleeps without realizing it. Microsleeps are brief periods of sleep that usually last up to 30 seconds. During a microsleep, your brain is in a sleep-like state, and you may feel confused or disoriented when you "wake up."

In addition to hallucinations, your perception of reality may become distorted, and you may experience delusional thinking. Your ability to think clearly and make decisions will be impaired, and you may have trouble with tasks that require executive functions such as multitasking, remembering details, and paying attention. Your emotions may also be affected, and you may become irritable, anxious, or depressed.

After 48 hours, your brain will enter microsleeps

After 48 hours without sleep, your brain will enter microsleeps—brief periods of complete unconsciousness that can last several seconds. These microsleeps occur involuntarily, and you may be completely unaware that they're happening. You might wake up feeling disoriented, or with no idea that you've been asleep at all.

Microsleeps are dangerous, especially if they occur while you're driving or operating heavy machinery. If your brain shuts down and microsleeps while you're behind the wheel, you could unintentionally hurt yourself or others.

By the time you've gone 48 hours without sleep, you're likely to be experiencing extreme sleep deprivation. Your cognitive performance will worsen, and you will become very fatigued. Your brain will be struggling to keep you awake, and you will be at risk of microsleeps.

At this point, you may also experience symptoms such as perceptual distortions, increased irritability, and temporal disorientation.

After 72 hours, you'll experience severe concentration and memory issues

After 72 hours without sleep, you will experience severe concentration and memory issues. By this point, your brain will be struggling to keep you awake, and you will likely be experiencing microsleeps—brief periods of complete unconsciousness that can last several seconds. These microsleeps can be dangerous, especially if you are driving or operating heavy machinery.

Your cognitive performance will be significantly impaired, and you will find it difficult to multitask and communicate with others. You may also experience difficulty forming thoughts and sentences, and switches between feelings of apathy and euphoria.

Additionally, your body will be under extreme stress. Your immune system will be suppressed, making you more susceptible to illness. You will also produce more of the stress hormone cortisol, and your blood pressure will rise.

The effects of sleep deprivation will vary from person to person, but by 72 hours, most people will be experiencing severe physical and mental health symptoms. It is important to prioritize sleep and practice good sleep hygiene to avoid the negative consequences of sleep deprivation.

After 96 hours, your perception of reality may be severely distorted

After 96 hours without sleep, your perception of reality may be severely distorted, resembling acute psychosis. This means you may see, hear, or feel things that aren't there. This can include visual distortions, such as changes in the size, movement, colour, or contours of objects. For example, you may see stationary objects moving or objects appearing larger or smaller than they actually are. You may also experience hallucinations in the form of complex images, such as animals or people who aren't really there. In addition to visual hallucinations, you may also experience tactile hallucinations, such as the sensation of being touched, and auditory hallucinations, such as hearing voices or other sounds that aren't present.

The risk of hallucinations increases the longer you go without sleep. After 24 hours, you may start to experience microsleep, which is when your brain briefly goes "offline" for a few seconds without you realising it. After 48 hours, your risk of hallucinations increases, and these may become more complex after 72 hours.

In addition to hallucinations, sleep deprivation can cause a range of other symptoms, including:

• Increased stress hormones
• Mood changes, such as irritability, anxiety, and depression
• Impaired cognitive function, including memory loss and disordered thoughts
• Dissociation and depersonalisation
• Temporal disorientation
• Physical symptoms, such as increased heart rate and blood pressure, suppressed immune system, and higher body temperature

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