Dangers of sleep deprivation

Most of us are all too familiar with that tedious, tired feeling after a night of no sleep. But some social media users have taken their tiredness to the extreme by taking part in something they call the “no sleep challenge.”

A 19-year-old YouTuber, Norme, live-streamed his attempt to break the world record for the most consecutive days without sleep. After 250 hours, viewers he expressed concerns about Norme’s health and well-being, but he ultimately managed to achieve a “sleep-free” time of 264 hours and 24 minutes.

Norme’s attempt earned him bans from social media platforms YouTube and Kick. However, despite his claims of breaking the world record, his experience was not enough to beat the last Guinness record holder, Robert McDonald, who amassed 453 hours – almost 19 days! – in 1986.

In 1997, Guinness World Records stopped tracking the record for longest time without sleep for safety reasons—and they were right. Going without sleep for long periods of time can be incredibly hazardous.

Adults should strive for more than seven hours of sleep a day regularly. Chronic inability to get enough sleep is associated with an increased risk many conditions such as depression, diabetes, obesity, heart attack, hypertension and stroke.

Sleep is an crucial part of our daily routine. It allows many of our body systems to rest and focus on repair and recovery.

During the first three stages of sleep parasympathetic nervous system – which regulates rest and digestion – takes over. This reduces lowers heart rate and blood pressure.

In the last stage, the rapid eye movement phase (REM), the heart activity increases and the eyes move – this stage is crucial for such cognitive functions as creativity, learning and memory. Alcohol Or caffeine Consuming before bed may disrupt sleep cycles.

Sleep deprivation can be acute or chronic. Acute deprivation may occur within one or two days.

Although it may seem like a compact period of time, 24 hours of sleep deprivation may cause a greater degree functional impairment than exceeding the alcohol limit. Symptoms of severe sleep deprivation can include puffy eyes or dark circles under the eyes, irritability, cognitive decline, brain fog AND food cravings.

On the second day without sleep, symptoms become more severe, behavioral changes occur, and cognitive function continues to decline. The body’s need for sleep becomes stronger, causing “micro-sleep” – involuntary naps lasting about 30 seconds.

The body’s need for food increases, as do physiological responses such as: systemic inflammation AND impaired immune responsewhich makes us more susceptible to disease.

The third 24-hour period may trigger a desperate need for sleep, increasing the likelihood of longer microsleeps, depersonalization – feelings of detachment from reality – and hallucinations. After the fourth day of insomnia, all symptoms become much worse and progress to a state psychosis due to lack of sleep where you are unable to interpret reality and feel a painful need to sleep.

Recovery from sleep deprivation varies from person to person; some people only need a solid night’s sleep to recover. For others, it may take days or weeks.

However, studies have shown that restorative sleep often does not reverse the metabolic changes that can cause weight gain and decreased insulin sensitivity, even for relatively compact periods of sleep deprivation.

Shift workers can be chronically sleep deprived. Shift workers typically work an average of one to four hours less sleep per day than people whose working hours fall on daytime hours – which may enhance their risk of premature death.

In fact, many studies have shown that too little sleep is associated with increased risk of death. However, too much sleep is also associated with increased risk of death.

It is therefore best for your health to avoid social media challenges and instead opt for good sleep hygiene to get seven to nine hours of quality sleep. Your body will thank you for it.