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The longer you go without sleep, the more your body and brain start to struggle.
Your reactions slow down, emotional responses become disproportionate, and your attention span almost disappears.
Leah Kaylor,licensed clinical psychologist specializing in sleep and trauma.
“When it is withheld, the consequences are devastating.”
What is long-term sleep deprivation?
Long-term sleep deprivation is when you regularly get less sleep than your body needs.
This can occur over the course of weeks, months and even years.
This means there’s no exact number of hours to avoid sleep deprivation.
although due to the inherent risk of sleep deprivation, the record is no longer monitored.
Her upcoming bookThe Sleep Advantageexplores sleep deprivation and sleep health.
How long can you go without sleep?
But how bad is it to go without sleep for a full day?
“The overwhelming urge to sleep becomes almost unbearable.”
They’re particularly dangerous if you’re driving or operating machinery.
Sleep pressure is intense and microsleeps start coming frequently.
You’re likely to find it increasingly hard to resist the urge to drift off.
“Emotional stability is another casualty of prolonged sleeplessness.”
“Your sense of time starts to unravel.
At this point, your sleep deprivation has gone beyond what we’d normally describe as ‘tired’.
“Three days without sleep… fundamentally alters how you experience the world,” as Dr. Kaylor explains.
“Your body and mind are pushed to their absolute limits,” says Dr. Kaylor.
Your desire to sleep becomes “nearly unbearable” as Dr. Kaylor describes.
Hallucinations intensify and you lose the ability to think clearly and communicate effectively.
And Dr. Kaylor’s advice is clear: listen to it.
“At this stage, your grip on reality begins to slip in alarming ways.
“[It’s] increasingly difficult to distinguish whats real from whats not.”
However, a longer 90 minute nap allows you to enjoy the benefits of a full sleep cycle.
While harder to fit into your day, these longer naps can be more refreshing for long-term sleep deprivation.
And once awake, a routine can keep your circadian rhythms better in-sync.
Getting sunlight first thing in the morning tells your body it’s time to wake up.
In the evening, dimming the lights helps your internal clock recognize it’s time to wind down.
It’s better to pay off yoursleep debtslowly.
Researchsuggests it can take a while to recover from a period of missed sleep.
