Many people today aren\u2019t getting enough sleep, with some getting by on only five to six hours. And worse, many people are proud of how well they can cope with sleep loss, believing they don\u2019t need a full night\u2019s rest. It may leave you wondering how long a human can go without sleep.<\/p>\n
While some people can go long stretches without sleep, we feel the effects of sleep deprivation quickly. After skipping one night of sleep, your mind feels sluggish, and your performance drops. You see similar results when you lose a couple of hours of sleep over several nights.<\/p>\n
\u201cSleep serves a vital physiological function and is probably the single most important factor in exercise recovery,\u201d says Dr. Nayantara Santhi. \u201cEveryone is familiar with the recommended duration of sleep. What is less appreciated is that not just how long we sleep, but when we <\/span>initiate<\/span> sleep is equally important.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cHumans are biologically wired to have their main sleep at night. Sleep onset usually occurs after dusk with the onset of darkness. Darkness is important for sleep, which is why our digital lifestyle in the evening has resulted in chronic sleep loss.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n When Randy Gardner was 17 years old, he stayed awake for 264 hours as part of a\u00a01965 study<\/a>\u00a0on prolonged sleep deprivation. The idea began as his\u00a0science fair project<\/a>\u00a0and a way to beat the then-record of 260 hours of sleep deprivation.<\/p>\n As the experiment progressed, Gardner became nauseated and ate tangerines and oranges to soothe his stomach. He complained of smells he couldn\u2019t stand, and his cognitive abilities declined. Gardner compared it to \u201cearly Alzheimer’s<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n Once Gardner broke the world record by staying up for 11 days, he was taken to a naval hospital so researchers could monitor his brain waves as he finally fell asleep. He experienced a high amount of REM sleep that night.<\/p>\n Gardner slept for 14 hours after the experiment; when he woke up, he felt groggy but not abnormally so. \u00a0His body was quick to fall back into a regular sleep schedule, and his REM sleep levels dropped back to normal as the days passed.<\/p>\n Others have since tried to break Gardner\u2019s record. According to Australia\u2019s National Sleep Research Project,\u00a0which surveyed<\/a>\u00a0the sleep habits of thousands of Australians, the\u00a0new record<\/a>\u00a0might be 18 days, 21 hours, and 40 minutes without sleep. The record holder experienced hallucinations, paranoia, blurry vision, slurred speech, and thinking deficiencies.<\/p>\n If you want to achieve fame by breaking the record for sleep deprivation, we have to tell you it\u2019s not possible. The Guinness Book of World Records no longer accepts entries for going without sleep, out of consideration for potential side effects.<\/p>\n We\u2019re not 100 percent certain we would die without sleep. However, if you get too much or too little sleep, your risk of death increases, according to a 2010 review<\/a>.<\/p>\n Our ability to\u00a0microsleep<\/a>\u00a0might make it difficult for us to die from total sleep deprivation. When we are adjusted to a consistent sleep schedule and then get a poor night\u2019s sleep, we may fall asleep for a moment several times the next day. We can\u2019t control microsleep and may find ourselves dozing off when we don\u2019t want to.<\/p>\n Despite the name,\u00a0fatal familial insomnia<\/a>\u00a0(FFI) isn\u2019t as simple as dying from a lack of sleep. It\u2019s an inherited neurodegenerative disease. FFI often develops during middle age, though it\u2019s been observed in those as young as 18.<\/p>\n Sometimes, the first symptom of FFI isn\u2019t insomnia, but progressive dementia. Other symptoms include weight loss, loss of appetite, panic attacks, hypothermia, and hyperthermia.<\/p>\n We don\u2019t have a clear answer as to why we need sleep, but scientists have four theories<\/a>.<\/p>\n One of the earlier theories is that we fall asleep to avoid harm during a time we\u2019re particularly vulnerable. By sleeping, we avoid injuring ourselves in the dark or running into predators.<\/p>\n The counterargument is that conscious vigilance is the best defense against an attack or other emergency. This theory has been largely discredited as a reason why we sleep, Dr. Santhi explains.<\/p>\n Living beings all\u00a0compete for energy resources such as food. By sleeping, we reduce our energy demand and consumption, letting us get by on fewer resources. Many scientists link this theory to the above inactivity theory.<\/p>\n While sleep does cause a drop in energy consumption, theorists have largely moved on to the idea that sleep is for restoration, among other things, Dr. Santhi notes.<\/p>\n It\u2019s a long-standing belief that sleep rejuvenates us, and scientific evidence supports this. Animals deprived of sleep die within a few weeks,\u00a0and many of our restorative functions, such as the glymphatic system<\/a>, work best or solely while we\u2019re asleep.<\/p>\n Brain plasticity<\/a>, also known as neural plasticity or neuroplasticity, is our nervous system\u2019s ability to change in response to outside or internal stimuli. Researchers have linked sleep to brain development and plasticity in infants and children. For adults, researchers note sleep deprivation\u2019s effect on our thinking skills, and that even as we mature sleep continues to influence our brain plasticity.<\/p>\n Similarly, sleep affects how well we learn and remember items of interest, with a good night’s rest improving overall cognition.<\/p>\n As we age, the amount of sleep we need decreases. Here\u2019s how much the CDC recommends<\/a>:<\/p>\nWhat\u2019s the Record for Going Without Sleep?<\/h2>\n
Can I Die From a Lack of Sleep?<\/h2>\n
Can Insomnia be Fatal?<\/h3>\n
Why Do We Need Sleep to Survive?<\/h2>\n
Inactivity Theory<\/h3>\n
Energy Conservation Theory<\/h3>\n
Restorative Theory<\/h3>\n
Brain Plasticity Theory<\/h3>\n
How Much Sleep Do I Need?<\/h2>\n