Sleep Deprivation: The Impact Of One Sleepless Night

Sleep deprivation can occur after just 24 hours of no sleep. While going without sleep for a day won't have long-term effects on your health, it does have plenty of negative short-term consequences. After 24 hours without sleep, you will experience reduced reaction time, impaired judgment and decision-making, diminished memory and attention, impaired vision, hearing and hand-eye coordination, tremors, and muscle tension. Your body will also produce more stress hormones, like cortisol and adrenaline, to compensate for the fatigue. The longer you stay awake, the more severe these symptoms will become, and the longer it will take to recover.

Increased stress hormones

Sleep deprivation can lead to an increase in stress hormones, such as cortisol and adrenaline. The effects of sleep deprivation on the body's stress response are complex and bidirectional. The body's stress response is primarily controlled by the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, which releases stress hormones such as cortisol and adrenaline.

Sleep deprivation can lead to an increase in the activity of the HPA axis, resulting in higher levels of stress hormones. This increase in stress hormones can have a range of effects on the body, including increased blood sugar levels and a higher risk of accidents. The impact of sleep deprivation on the HPA axis may depend on factors such as the duration of sleep loss, the time of day, and individual differences in sleep patterns.

The relationship between sleep deprivation and stress is complex and bidirectional. Sleep loss can activate the stress response, while stress can also disrupt sleep. This reciprocal relationship makes it challenging to separate the effects of sleep deprivation from the effects of stress in research studies.

To minimize the confounding effects of stress in sleep deprivation studies, it is crucial to use protocols that minimize stress and avoid forced locomotion or external sensory stimulation. Recent advancements in biotechnology, such as chemogenetics and optogenetics, offer new opportunities to induce sleep deprivation without the potential confounding effects of stress. These techniques allow for precise neuromodulation by activating or inhibiting specific neuronal populations.

Additionally, real-time sleep-scoring algorithms can be used to automate sleep deprivation protocols and reduce human intervention, further minimizing stress. By combining these advanced techniques, researchers can gain a better understanding of the complex relationship between sleep and stress while minimizing potential confounding factors.

Poor coordination and judgement

Sleep is foundational to health and wellness. It allows the body to conserve and store energy, repair and recover from daily activity and injuries, and rest, reorganise and recatalogue the brain.

After 24 hours of no sleep, stress hormones such as cortisol and adrenaline increase to compensate for fatigue and help us keep functioning. This increase in stress hormones, coupled with a lack of restorative sleep, impairs coordination and judgement.

The consequences of sleep deprivation at 24 hours are comparable to the cognitive impairment of someone with a blood alcohol content of 0.1%. You will experience a reduced reaction time, slurred speech, and slowed thinking. Your hand-eye coordination will be impaired, and you will have a reduced ability to carry out complex tasks.

Research has shown that impairment of memory is related to sleep loss. People who don’t get enough sleep are more prone to accidents because their instinctive guidance system is hindered and their sensory systems impaired.

After 24 hours of no sleep, you may begin to hallucinate. This occurs when you see, hear, or feel things that aren’t actually there.

After 48 hours without sleep, you will experience extreme sleep deprivation. Your body will begin to compensate by shutting down for microsleeps—3 to 15-second bursts of rest during which your brain switches off. Your eyes may not close, and you may not be consciously aware that your brain is going offline for seconds at a time.

After 72 hours, your perception of reality may be severely distorted, resembling acute psychosis. Your hallucinations might become more complex.

Risk of fatal accidents

Sleep deprivation can have serious consequences, and one of the most pressing concerns is the elevated risk of fatal accidents. When an individual goes without sleep for 24 hours, their cognitive performance is significantly impaired. This includes a decline in reaction time, judgement, mood, and decision-making abilities. These impairments have dire implications for tasks that require coordination and complex thinking, such as driving or operating heavy machinery.

Research by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety found that drivers who had slept for less than seven hours in the past 24 hours had a significantly elevated crash risk. The risk increased as the number of sleep hours decreased. Compared to drivers who had slept for at least seven hours, those who got six hours of sleep had 1.3 times the crash rate, while those who slept for less than four hours had a staggering 11.5 times the crash rate.

The US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimates that approximately 100,000 road accidents each year are caused by drowsy driving, resulting in over 1,500 deaths and more than 70,000 injuries. Sleep deprivation slows reactions to stimuli, decreases the accuracy of responses, and leads to long lapses in attention, all of which can have fatal consequences when operating a vehicle.

It is worth noting that the effects of sleep deprivation on driving performance are comparable to the effects of alcohol impairment. Studies have shown that driving after only four to five hours of sleep is similar to driving with a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) at or slightly above the legal limit in the US (0.08), and driving with less than four hours of sleep is like driving with a BAC of roughly 0.12-0.15.

The risk of accidents is further exacerbated by other factors such as driving at night, working long hours, and younger or inexperienced drivers.

To mitigate the risk of fatal accidents due to sleep deprivation, it is crucial for individuals to prioritize getting sufficient sleep, typically seven to nine hours for adults, and refrain from operating vehicles or heavy machinery when sleep-deprived. Organizations should also implement fatigue management plans to ensure the safety and well-being of their employees and the public.

Hallucinations

Sleep deprivation can cause hallucinations, which are perceptions of something that is not actually present in the environment. Hallucinations can affect any of the five senses: auditory, gustatory (taste), olfactory (smell), tactile (touch), or visual.

After just one night without sleep, people may start to experience symptoms such as daytime sleepiness, anxiety, and irritability. However, hallucinations typically begin to occur after 24 to 36 hours of sleep deprivation. At this point, individuals may start to experience simple visual hallucinations, such as thinking they see something growing from the floor.

As sleep deprivation continues, hallucinations may become more complex and involve multiple senses. After 48 hours without sleep, individuals may experience symptoms of depersonalization and derealization, such as problems with accurately perceiving themselves and reality.

After 72 hours without sleep, hallucinations can intensify and individuals may experience delusions, which are false beliefs. These symptoms are similar to those of acute psychosis or a loss of touch with reality.

It is important to note that the effects of sleep deprivation can vary depending on individual factors such as age, genetics, and underlying health conditions.

Microsleeps

Staying awake for 24 hours can have several negative consequences, including impaired cognitive performance, poor decision-making, and increased safety risks. While the effects of one day without sleep may not cause major health problems, they can lead to microsleep episodes, which pose their own dangers.

The dangers of microsleep are particularly evident when driving. Studies have shown that up to 6,000 fatal crashes each year in the United States may be linked to drowsy drivers, with a similar number of non-fatal injuries. During microsleep, a driver may travel hundreds of feet without conscious control, increasing the risk of collisions and putting themselves and others in danger.

While microsleeps are often associated with sleep deprivation, they can occur even in well-rested individuals. Monotonous tasks, such as driving on an empty highway, can trigger microsleep episodes. In these situations, a person may believe they have simply lost focus briefly, unaware that they have actually experienced a microsleep episode.

To prevent microsleep episodes, it is crucial to prioritize adequate sleep, typically 7-9 hours for adults. Improving sleep habits, such as maintaining a consistent sleep schedule, regular exercise, and limiting screen time before bed, can help reduce the occurrence of microsleeps. Additionally, short-term fixes like taking a power nap, engaging in conversation, or consuming caffeine can provide temporary relief from sleepiness and reduce the likelihood of microsleeps.

Frequently asked questions