What happens if you don't sleep for 7 days. This is what happens to a person who does not sleep for a long time. Don't joke with it

Insomnia is called lack of sleep, which does not allow the body to fully recover. Prolonged insomnia (voluntary or forced) can seriously undermine a person's health. Naturally, irreversible consequences do not appear soon, but some may appear almost immediately.

Achievements and records

For over 40 years, enthusiasts have been trying in practice to find out how long you can stay awake, and what happens to the human psyche and body during long-term wakefulness. Today, the official record from the Guinness Book of Records is wakefulness for 19 days - that's how much Robert McDonalds from the USA did not sleep. Also, the record of the schoolboy Randy Gardner, who did not sleep for 11 days, is often recalled. Surprisingly, then he slept for only 13 hours, and not two days, as one might assume. But that's right - this time was quite enough to restore the normal cycle of sleep and wakefulness.

There is another unconfirmed record - 28 days, however, it literally pales in comparison with the ability of some people not to sleep throughout their lives. There are such people, but they are very few.

Interestingly, those people who do not need to sleep at all are quite healthy and live a full life. But students, record holders, young parents, workaholics, just sick people and other "vigorous" people experience serious overload with constant wakefulness.

Effects of long periods of insomnia

Regardless of what caused the insomnia, the response of the body to lack of sleep in many people is almost the same. Here's what happens if you don't sleep:
  • In the first two days, chemical processes take precedence over the psyche, but this is almost imperceptible to others and to a person (we do not take fatigue and irritability).
  • Then the person begins to get confused, there is a change in the hormonal background and a violation of the connections between the neurons of the brain.
  • On the fifth (for some, on the third) day, those who do not sleep for a long time begin paranoia and hallucinations, and Alzheimer's disease companion syndromes appear.
  • Seven or more days without sleep makes a person withdrawn with slurred speech, weak intellectual ability and trembling hands.
  • Then either a long-awaited dream occurs, or death (it is difficult to give exact dates, because everyone has a different need for sleep).
It must be said that the human brain has one interesting mechanism of protection against long-term - superficial sleep. This is a partial shutdown of the brain for a short time (a second to a few minutes). During this period, a person is able to talk, walk and even drive a car. Superficial sleep is very useful, however, it does not save from death.

By the way, according to NRMA statistics, every sixth car accident occurs due to the fatigue of drivers sleeping in reality.

What is the danger of chronic sleep deprivation

We found out what happens if you don’t sleep for a long time, but this issue is relevant only for a small part of humanity. Much more interesting and important is what problems come with a person's daily lack of sleep (which starts almost from kindergarten).


Naturally, considerable experience in postponing and shortening sleep indefinitely, somewhat lulls vigilance, but do you realize how seriously this affects your body? Of course, mere lack of sleep cannot compare with the torture described above, but its consequences are sometimes even more terrible.

If you do not sleep at least a day, the ability to process information and learn is reduced by 30 percent, two days without sleep take away about 60 percent of a person's mental abilities. Interestingly, if you sleep less than 6 hours a day during the week (the need is 8 hours), the brain can suffer as if it was deprived of sleep for a couple of nights in a row.

All the oxidative processes that occur with chronic sleep deprivation have a detrimental effect on memory and learning. The body ages faster, the heart rests less and therefore wears out faster. The nervous system is depressed and after 5-10 years of chronic lack of sleep it is much more difficult for a person to fall asleep. In addition, failures occur, because due to the short duration of sleep, the production of T-lymphocytes that resist bacteria and viruses occurs in insufficient quantities.


In addition to the medical consequences, it must be added that those people who experience lack of sleep are much more irritable and grumpy. So we advise you to reduce yourself from insomnia, despite the lack of time, the requirements of the authorities and other factors.

Everyone, probably, at least once in their life, but one night did not sleep. Whether it was due to night parties that smoothly transition into the next day or preparation for the session, or was it a work necessity - usually, if possible, a person, if he has not slept all day, tries to catch up on the next night. But there are times when it is not possible to sleep 2 days in a row or even 3 days. Emergencies at work, time trouble at the session and you have to not sleep for 2-3 days. What happens if you don't sleep for a long time?

Sleep is the rest of the body, it is responsible for processing and storing information, restores immunity. Previously, lack of sleep was used as a torture to extort secrets. However, recently, experts submitted a report to the US Senate that such testimony cannot be trusted, because in the absence of sleep, people hallucinate and sign false confessions.

If you do not sleep for 1 day, nothing terrible will happen. A single violation of the regime of the day will not lead to any serious consequences, unless of course you decide to spend the next day behind the wheel. It all depends on the individual characteristics of the organism. For example, if a person is used to such a work schedule, when after the night shift there is still work during the day, then he will simply finish these hours the next night.

During the next day after a sleepless night, a person will feel drowsiness, which can be slightly relieved by a cup of coffee, fatigue, a slight deterioration in concentration and memory. Some feel a little chill. A person can suddenly fall asleep on public transport, while sitting in line to see a doctor, for example. The next night, there may be difficulty falling asleep, this is due to an excess of dopamine in the blood, but the sleep will be strong.

One thing is certain if you're wondering something like: what if you stay up all night the eve of your exam? There is only one answer - nothing good. A sleepless night does not contribute to the readiness of the brain for stress. The thought process, on the contrary, will become slower, intellectual abilities will decrease. Absent-mindedness and inattention are companions of a sleepy state. Of course, the person will look worse - the skin will be gray, bags under the eyes will appear, some puffiness of the cheeks.

Experts note that it is enough to skip only the first 24 hours of sleep and brain disorders begin. German researchers noted the appearance of symptoms of mild schizophrenia: a distorted sense of time, sensitivity to light, incorrect color perception, incoherent speech. The emotional background begins to change; the longer a person does not sleep, the more exaggerated emotions become, laughter is replaced by causeless sobs.

If you don't sleep for 2 nights in a row

Of course, situations may arise when you have to stay awake for 2 days in a row. This is a more difficult condition for the body, which can affect the work of internal organs and it will manifest itself not only in drowsiness, but also in the malfunction of the work, for example, of the gastrointestinal tract. From heartburn to diarrhea - the range of sensations experienced can be very diverse. At the same time, a person's appetite will increase (an obvious advantage will be given to salty and fatty foods) and the body, in response to stress, will start the function of producing hormones responsible for insomnia. Oddly enough, during this period, it will not be easy for a person to fall asleep, even with a strong desire.
After 2 sleepless nights in the body, glucose metabolism is disturbed, the functioning of the immune system worsens. The person becomes more open to the effects of viruses.

After two sleepless nights, the strongest person will become:

  • scattered;
  • inattentive;
  • his concentration will deteriorate;
  • intellectual abilities will decrease;
  • speech will become more primitive;
  • coordination of movements will worsen.

If you don't sleep for 3 days

What happens if you don't sleep all night for 3 days in a row? The main sensations will be the same as after two sleepless days. Coordination of movements will be disturbed, speech will worsen, a nervous tic may appear. This condition is characterized by loss of appetite and mild nausea. The experimenter will have to constantly wrap himself up - he will have a chill, his hands will become cold. There may be such a state when the gaze is focused on a particular point and it becomes difficult to look away.

It must be said that under conditions of prolonged inability to sleep, a person begins to experience states of failure - when he turns off for a while and then comes to his senses again. This is not a superficial sleep, a person simply turns off the controlling parts of the brain. For example, he may not notice how he skipped 3-5 stations in the subway, or when walking down the street, he may not remember how he passed the section of the path. Or suddenly completely forget about the purpose of the trip.

If you don't sleep for 4 days

What will remain of the human brain if you do not sleep for 4 days is not clear. After all, if you don’t sleep for a day, the ability to process information is already reduced by a third, two days of being awake will take 60% of a person’s mental abilities. After 4 days of not sleeping on the mental abilities of a person, even if he is 7 spans in the forehead, one cannot count, consciousness begins to get confused, severe irritability appears. Plus, there is a trembling of the limbs, a feeling of wadding of the body and the appearance is greatly deteriorating. The person becomes like an old man.

If you don't sleep for 5 days

If you don’t sleep for 5 days, hallucinations and paranoia will come to visit. Perhaps the onset of panic attacks - the most nonsense can serve as an occasion. During panic attacks, cold sweat appears, sweating becomes more frequent, and the heart rate rises. After 5 days without sleep, the work of important parts of the brain slows down, and neural activity weakens.

Serious violations will occur in the parietal zone, which is responsible for mathematical abilities and logic, so a person will hardly be able to add even 2 plus 2. In this situation, it is not at all surprising that if you do not sleep for so long, there will be problems with speech. Violations in the temporal lobe will provoke its incoherence, and hallucinations will begin to occur after the failure of the functions of the prefrontal cortex of the brain. These may be visual hallucinations similar to dreams or sound.

If you do not sleep for 6-7 days

Few people are capable of such an extreme experiment with their body. So, let's see what happens if you don't sleep for 7 days. The person will become very strange and give the impression of a drug addict. It will be impossible to communicate with him. Some people who decided on this experiment developed Alzheimer's disease syndromes, severe hallucinations, and paranoid manifestations. The record holder for insomnia, a student from America, Randy Gardner, had a strong trembling of the limbs and he could not even perform the simplest addition of numbers: he simply forgot the task.

After 5 days without sleep, the body will experience the strongest stress of all systems., brain neurons become inactive, the heart muscle wears out, which is manifested by pain, immunity ceases to resist viruses due to the passivity of T-lymphocytes, the liver also begins to experience huge loads.

Oddly enough, after such a long state of not sleeping, all symptoms will disappear literally after the first 8 hours of sleep. That is, a person can oversleep for 24 hours after a long wakefulness, but even if he is awakened after 8 hours, the body will almost completely restore its functions. This, of course, is the case if the experiments with sleep are one-time. If you constantly force your body, not letting it rest for two or three days, then it will end with a whole bunch of diseases, including both the cardiovascular and hormonal systems, the gastrointestinal tract and, of course, the psychiatric plan.

List of used literature:

  • Kovrov G.V. (ed.) Brief guide to clinical somnology M: “MEDpress-inform”, 2018.
  • Poluektov M.G. (ed.) Somnology and sleep medicine. National leadership in memory of A.N. Wayne and Ya.I. Levina M.: "Medforum", 2016.
  • A.M. Petrov, A.R. Giniatullin Neurobiology of sleep: a modern view (textbook) Kazan, GKMU, 2012
7 (85521) 7 29 211 6 years

There are tips on how not to fall asleep! But what would after two days without sleep also feel good, alas, this does not happen. Well, except for the drugs. I hope you manage without them.

    0 0

5 (3267) 2 14 47 6 years

I just passed my philosophy exam yesterday. I didn’t sleep all night, I got ready, in the morning I was all dead. drank coffee very very strong 2 mugs. turned on my the most favorite tunes that invigorate and so on until he left for exams at 11. then he came drank coffee again. and started preparing for IT ... then again for the session. Then we walked with friends. In the end, I came at 10 and with a laptop on my stomach, and with the handset raised from the phone, I passed out on the couch. The body couldn't take it anymore. The second day I think no one will last The main thing is not to think about sleep and keep yourself in a good mood. IMHO

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8 (115661) 8 15 115 6 years

This is not available to civilians. Only the military. Each country has its own battle cocktails. If you buy Modafinil (Alertec) from Europeans, you can stay awake for two or three days without any negative feelings. But, do not forget that the main thing for the military is efficiency during the battle and service. How a person will continue to live there, whether there will be any serious consequences - they do not care.
The Saudis are feeding Syrian rebels with amphetamine-based pills. You don’t sleep there either, but it blows your mind) Drugs, after all.

So it's better to sleep for at least an hour or two. The body cannot do without sleep. To restore strength, the body produces melatonin, the sleep hormone. It can be bought at a pharmacy without a prescription. You drink, you fall asleep, you just need to internally tune in that you only sleep for two hours and ask someone to wake you up) With melatonin, sleep is very strong. When you tune in, the body knows that it doesn’t have much time, it won’t go into a prolonged phase of sleep. And if you cross - then you can be dragged, the person "dies" there, so you want to sleep at the moment of waking up)
After waking up, contrast scent and make a civilian "combat cocktail") This is a mixture of various invigorating alkaloids and mint.
Mint is needed so that there is no nervous tremor and the heart does not beat too hard.
Those. you take a teaspoon of coffee, a teaspoon of green tea, two teaspoons of cocoa, a pinch of dry mint or a bag of mint tea, a little sage if available (good for the brain), you brew everything, insist, filter and drink. The taste is peculiar, but not nasty) It invigorates well, the head becomes fresh, better than just coffee.
So that you do not want to sleep for a long time - buy a tincture of Rhodiola rosea in a pharmacy. Ch. Spoon inside and do not want to sleep. unaccustomed to it, you can freak out.
This is a set for a fighting cocktail) You can also add alkaloids of chocolate or Coca-Cola.

I have a lot of experience sleeping for several hours. I tell from practice) But in this mode it is necessary to nourish the body very well. Vitamins, honey, fruits, figs for the head and dried apricots for the heart (the heart is the first to suffer from lack of sleep), sea kale. Raw eggs are a storehouse of amino acids and nutrients.

After such overloads, you need to rest twice as much. Those. one night you do not sleep - then you need to sleep for two nights in a row. Three nights for 3-4 hours - you also need to sleep off a couple of days.

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5 (3163) 1 13 38 6 years

and feel good?))) turned down! it doesn't)
but there is a way to listen to a couple of songs of your MCH and go to sleep, at least on the backstage! Or go home to bed!
It's not hard to stay awake for 2 nights. just resist chewing take a horizontal position! or close your eyes!
when you start to fall asleep, get up, go for a run, take a drink...
or take 10 minute pauses and ask to be woken up in 10 minutes! not earlier, not later! it helps to cheer up a little!
I stay like this for 4-5 days! but then the head counts 2 + 2 for 5 minutes! so be careful!

Surely many of you have experienced a situation where you had to stay awake at night. For example, it may be the night before the session, unlearned school homework. And someone needs to go to work, because the night shift is scheduled. Therefore, the question of what will happen if you do not sleep for 2 days is quite relevant. Let's try to deal with this problem.

Consequences of two nights spent without sleep

With a person there are different, most unpredictable situations. It is clear that for normal health at night you need to sleep, but due to circumstances, sometimes you have to stay awake for two days in a row. Let's figure out what will happen if you do not sleep for two days. The following consequences are possible:

  • general, depressed state of health;
  • the strongest lethargy;
  • disorders of the stomach (diarrhea or constipation);
  • increased appetite, and you want salty, spicy foods;
  • a state close to stress;
  • Weakening of the immune system, making it harder for the body to fight viruses
  • distraction, inability to make a quick decision if necessary;
  • blurred vision (difficulty focusing on a particular subject);
  • it is difficult to concentrate on any thought;
  • speech becomes simplified;
  • problems with coordination of movements;
  • headaches in combination with noises;
  • jumps in blood pressure;
  • muscle and joint pain;
  • increased heart rate;
  • uncontrolled irritability.

If you do not sleep for two days, then the body will begin to produce certain hormones to deal with a stressful situation. After a sleepless pastime, I really want to fall asleep. But, the longer you stay awake, the harder it is to get out of the state of wakefulness.

It is known that in certain emergency situations, the reserve buttons of the body are activated, and increased activity occurs.

But, even if necessary, not everyone manages to stay awake for 2 days. At some point, uncontrollable drowsiness sets in, when you can just turn off. Next, let's talk about what to do when it is necessary not to sleep for two days, and it is forbidden to rest.

How to overcome sleep if necessary?

There are many ways to deal with sleepiness. So, if you have to stay up for 30 hours or more, then the easiest option to avoid the undesirable consequences of sleepless nights is to get enough sleep in advance. It is clear that several hours of daytime sleep do not compensate for even one sleepless night, but it will be easier for the body to cope with the situation.

We offer you to get acquainted with the best ways to help not sleep for 2 days:

  1. try breathing exercises. Inhale as usual, and exhale should be sharp (10 repetitions). Breathing exercises will help to cheer up, warm up;
  2. chew menthol gum, which is not so much refreshing as it will cause a feeling of cheerfulness;
  3. ventilate the room where you are. To cheer up, eliminate drowsiness, you need coolness. It doesn't matter what season it is outside. Cold (cool air) causes the body to activate its protective functions in order to warm up. So you can cope with drowsiness;
  4. physical activity any character (jumps, squats, push-ups). Just a few exercises in 15 minutes are enough to cheer up;
  5. face rinse with wrists cool or cold water;
  6. go hungry even if you really want to eat. If you eat a heavy meal at night, then lethargy will immediately appear, combined with drowsiness;
  7. music (rhythmic) will help you feel energized. If possible, sing along, dance. The sound must be moderate in order to hear the words of the songs. Thus, listening to the words, you make the brain work;
  8. bright lighting help fight sleepiness. Muted light, on the contrary, relaxes;
  9. massage movements areas of the back of the neck, ears (lobes), under the knees and between the fingers (thumb and forefinger), improve blood flow, relieve fatigue;
  10. make yourself uncomfortable. Use a chair with a hard seat and back for sitting, spend some time standing up;
  11. use strong, tart scents. Even an unpleasant aroma will invigorate and eliminate fatigue during night wakefulness;
  12. try tongue touch the upper palate, then tickle him. Immediately it will become easier;
  13. you can get distracted by watching a funny video, or discuss on the forum that interests you.

These tips will help if you need not sleep for 2 days. Pay attention to foods that should contain more proteins (eggs, nuts, vegetables). Give up sugar. Drink a lot. As for coffee, you can drink no more than 2 cups per night, otherwise it will have the opposite effect. A cup of coffee helps to cheer up for 20 minutes. But still, it is better to do without caffeine during the night wakefulness, and use the methods described above.

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