Is it possible not to sleep for two days?
Theoretically, it’s possible. Every human body has some reserve that can be used in emergency situations.
By and large, a person can stay awake for four nights. True, your strength will be exhausted and you need to be prepared for the fact that the brain may turn off at the most unexpected moment.
Each organism has its own program, and you should not change it or abuse it.
Many people have had situations in which he did not sleep for a night or two. This is due to late-night gatherings with friends, urgent work or a long trip. In most cases, after such sleepless nights, a person tries to catch up.
What happens to a person if you don’t sleep for 2 days?
Doctors have noted that staying awake for no more than two days is acceptable for the body and does not cause any particular harm. But after this, it’s worth regaining your strength and getting a good night’s sleep in order to avoid negative health-related consequences. We are talking about one-time lack of sleep.
Staying awake for two nights is not that easy. Therefore, not everyone will be able to do such violence to the body.
Two days without sleep
This is a more serious test for the body. Along with absent-mindedness, difficulty concentrating, drowsiness, decreased intellectual abilities (and two sleepless nights in a row reduce intellectual activity by 60%), coordination of movements is impaired, and the vocabulary becomes poorer.
Disturbances also occur in the functioning of internal organs, primarily the digestive system - nausea, indigestion, heartburn. In addition, appetite increases, and the body requires something fatty or salty.
Immunity decreases, so it is very easy to become infected without sleeping for two days and two nights.
And then a paradoxical situation occurs - a person who has not slept for two days cannot fall asleep. The fact is that the body responds to such sleep deprivation by producing wakefulness hormones, hence insomnia.
Reasons for prolonged wakefulness
There can be many reasons, from an uncomfortable sleeping place to a difficult emotional state.
It is very important to identify and eliminate these causes in order to get rid of insomnia.
Some of them:
- sleep hygiene. First of all, your sleeping place should be as comfortable as possible - a moderately hard mattress and a comfortable pillow;
- restlessness, irritability or stress. The cause of anxiety is noted more often in women. Unstable emotional state and increased suspiciousness lead to sleep disturbances. Women, before going to bed, often tend to analyze the past day, thereby not being able to fall asleep for a long time. Or, waking up early in the morning, ahead of schedule, they are thinking about plans for the coming day.
All people are susceptible to stressful situations. Stress at work or a scandal at home often prevents us from sleeping peacefully.
Schoolchildren and teenagers are also susceptible to stressful situations. Especially teenagers, with their hormonal instability, teenage maximalism and ability to “inflate” the problem.
Excessive playing of computer games can also have a detrimental effect on sleep. Even the most harmless computer game can cause insomnia and an unstable emotional state in a teenager.
Often creative people or people whose work involves mental activity are susceptible to prolonged wakefulness.
Consequences of being awake once for 2 days
As we mentioned earlier, a day or even two without sleep will not cause you much harm. Of course, if this is a one-time event and you do not intend to force the body any further.
Causes of insomnia
Insomnia develops as a consequence of the influence of internal and external factors on a person. The main ones are:
- Emotional stress. This is the key cause of all sleep disorders that occur in humans. If for a long time (more than 1 month) you experience emotional discomfort, anxiety, engage in active mental activity, or worry about something, then there is a high probability that you will begin to suffer from insomnia.
- Disturbances of natural rhythms. If a person works at night or flies frequently, changing time zones, then his natural rhythms may be disrupted. Systematic disturbances in sleep and wakefulness lead to deterioration in sleep quality and insomnia.
- Mental disorders. Insomnia can be a consequence of a mental disorder or one of the symptoms of schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, or anxiety. The nervous system does not have time to relax, and therefore the person experiences insomnia.
- Use of psychoactive substances and medications. Alcoholic drinks, drugs, energy drinks, coffee abuse, medications with psychoactive effects - all this negatively affects the quality of sleep. At the same time, insomnia in this case is one of the most harmless consequences, but it can become chronic and greatly complicate a person’s life.
In women of childbearing age, insomnia can be caused by hormonal imbalances, pregnancy, and PMS. Menopause also has a negative impact on the quality of sleep and the inner world of women.
What happens if you don't sleep for 2 days?
Even the healthiest person, after two days without sleep, becomes:
- absent-minded;
- slow;
- inattentive;
- intellectual level decreases;
- speech slows down;
- thoughts are lost.
You should not take energy drinks or pills if you feel that you cannot stand to stay awake for so long. You can cause even more harm to the body.
It’s better to put things aside and take a nap at least for a short period of time to gain strength and energy.
Consequences of lack of sleep
If you constantly lack sleep due to situations that you cannot change, and you regularly spend 2 days without sleep, prepare for the fact that your body will weaken very quickly.
You will become more irritable, aggressive, and have a constant desire to sleep.
Blood pressure may rise, heart rate may increase, and gastrointestinal problems may occur. The need for food will increase.
With repeated two-day wakefulness, the brain also suffers. As a result, severe neurological diseases can be acquired.
It is worth noting that the immune system also decreases. The body becomes unable to withstand various viral diseases, such as FLU.
How the body reacts to lack of sleep
People tolerate the effects of going more than 24 hours without sleep / MedicalNewsToday deprivation (sleep deprivation) differently depending on age, health status, living conditions and nutrition. For example, children and teenagers need more sleep than adults. Lack of sleep in childhood can How Long Can You Go Without Sleep? Function, Hallucination, and More / Healthline cause poor academic performance, problems in communication and socialization, the emergence of bad habits and dangerous relationships, retardation in physical growth and development.
The effect of prolonged wakefulness is generally similar to what happens with chronic sleep deprivation, the only difference is how quickly it manifests itself.
After one day
Most people begin to The effects of going more than 24 hours without sleep / MedicalNewsToday feel the effects of lack of sleep within a day of continuous wakefulness.
After 24 hours without sleep
- Body temperature drops.
- The level of stress hormones: cortisol and adrenaline increases.
- Blood sugar levels increase (insulin levels decrease).
- Tension appears in the muscles.
- The natural cycle of sleep and rest is disrupted, which disrupts The effects of going more than 24 hours without sleep / MedicalNewsToday the production of hormones that regulate growth, appetite, metabolism and immunity.
- Vision and hearing deteriorate.
- Begins to changeHow Long Can You Go Without Sleep? Function, Hallucination, and More / Healthline perception of the world.
The brain is under stress, so it tries to conserve energy and enters a state of “local sleep” - temporarily turning off some neurons. Because of this, drowsiness appears, irritability worsens. How Long Can You Go Without Sleep? Function, Hallucination, and More / Healthline concentration, coordination, ability to reason and make decisions, memory begins to work worse. Appetite and cravings for high-calorie foods increase.
According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, not sleeping for 24 hours is comparable to Drowsy Driving. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention / Centers for Disease Control and Prevention with 30–60 ml of pure alcohol. This is 0.8 (according to some sources - exactly 1) ppm of alcohol in the blood, which is significantly higher than the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation, Article 12.8. “Driving a vehicle by a driver who is in a state of intoxication, transferring control of a vehicle to a person who is in a state of intoxication” is an acceptable norm in Russia. That is, driving after a day without sleep is just as dangerous as driving drunk.
After two days
After 36 hours without sleep
- The effects mentioned above are preserved and enhanced.
- Fatigue accumulates.
- Speech disturbances appear.
- Motivation decreases.
- The likelihood of making risky decisions increases.
- Thinking becomes How Long Can You Go Without Sleep? Function, Hallucination, and More / Healthline is less flexible.
As we found out E. Helm, N. Gujar, M. P. Walker. Sleep Deprivation Impairs the Accurate Recognition of Human Emotions / Sleep Californian psychiatrists, after 30 hours of wakefulness, people begin to recognize emotions much worse. Due to brain fatigue, a seemingly simple operation becomes difficult.
After 48 hours without sleep
- The negative effects continue to accumulate.
- Periods of unconsciousness (microsleep) appear.
- The person begins to feel confused and disoriented.
- Immunity decreases and increases. How Long Can You Go Without Sleep? Function, Hallucination, and More / Healthline the threat of the development of viral and inflammatory diseases: influenza, ARVI and other infections. This was confirmed by research C. M. Almeida, A. Malheiro. Sleep, Immunity and Shift Workers: A Review / Sleep Science (Sao Paulo, Brazil) by Brazilian immunologists.
The longer a person is awake, the stronger the effects of going more than 24 hours without sleep / MedicalNewsToday become. After two days, severe fatigue sets in. Because of this, the brain begins to involuntarily enter microsleep - short periods of completely unconsciousness that can last a few seconds.
After three days without sleep or more
After 72 hours without sleep
- The negative effects become so strong that the person can no longer stay awake on his own.
- Mental disorders may appear: paranoia, psychosis, depression.
- Mental abilities decline. How Long Can You Go Without Sleep? Function, Hallucination, and More / Healthline so much so that even simple tasks are difficult to complete.
- A person has memory problems. For example, he may forget what he is doing right in the middle of the action.
- The perception of the world is changing: The effects of going more than 24 hours without sleep / MedicalNewsToday hallucinations and illusions appear.
Even healthy people find it difficult to stay awake for three days. This is the conclusion we came to. Liu, R. Zhou et al. Effects of 72 Hours Total Sleep Deprivation on Male Astronauts' Executive Functions and Emotion / Comprehensive Psychiatry Chinese psychologists from Peking University during an experiment. Its participants were socially isolated and did not sleep for 72 hours. As a result, their pulse rate increased, undesirable effects appeared in the amplitude of heart contractions, and their mood worsened.
An ordinary person who has not slept for three days will feel extreme fatigue, problems with concentration and memory, paranoia, and depression. He will becomeHow Long Can You Go Without Sleep? Function, Hallucination, and More / Healthline It is difficult to multitask and communicate with other people.
Most of these effects go away if you get enough sleep. They can be partially smoothed out with proper nutrition and plenty of fluids, but this still will not replace How Long Can You Go Without Sleep? Function, Hallucination, and More / Healthline of good sleep.
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