How Long Can Someone Stay Awake

We all have been there facing long nights before deadlines with one reason or another, either a last-minute assignment or a night of fun. What did it feel like when all the requirements of a human being who sleeps were eliminated? Say did you know that one effect of sleeping too little is. . . or what the side effects of oversleeping can be?The land of sleep deprivation is both fascinating and dangerous, with some people going beyond the physical limits of man to discover its mysteries.

Having no sleep help humans neither healthy nor they feel better. The amount of sleep that is required by different people can differ ranging from some persons needing more and others needing less than the the usual seven to nine hours of sleep per night. The issue is that when sleep deprivation becomes a long term thing, it becomes another scientific mystery and interest to study.

Among the most dramatic instances of sleep deprivation which the world became aware of is that of Randy Gardner who had his name immortalized ever since by his 11 nights and a half days of being awake in 1964. Gardner's experiment, that was directed by a colleague from Stanford sleep research, Dr. William C. Dember, has undoubtedly filled in the gap in the knowledge about the influence of the overdue sleeplessness on cognitive and physical performance.

During the experiment Gardener experienced mood swings, problems with mental abilities such as concentration and memory, sense of distrust, and hallucinations. Though Gardner wanted to break the world record cleanly without any drugs or other stimulants, yet his sleeping deprivation induced cognitive and behavioral changes were closely supervised, this demonstrating a drastic change in human physiology

Although Gardner’s experiment is the most documented incident of the sleep deprivation cases, yet, it is not the only incident where people have tried to know how long they can remain without sleep. In the whole of human history, there were some people who dared to stay awake for a long time, driven by curiosity or the desire to break the record of their contemporaries.

From the deejays of the 1950s and 60s through to the hypesters in recent day such pursuits would show the a lot of stunts and tragedies in some cases. While the awesome sense of history creation or fresh discoveries related to the human mind cannot be overstated, there is a need to draw attention to the damaging consequences of sleep deprivation accompanying the unexpected results.

Research has shown that even a small amount of sleep deprivation can cause a lot of damage to the cognitive function, mood, and overall health of a person. Besides this, the chronic sleep-deprivation is confirmed as a factor that raises the risk of cardiovascular disease, obesity and type 2 diabetes.

Over the last years, Guinness World Records (GWR) do not support the sleep deprivation world records records in their catalog anymore and the reason they gave is that it alters the record holder’s health. Also, there are rare genetic disorders such as Fatal Familial Insomnia which are dangerous for the health if the person is awake for a very long time, thus showing that the sleep is really vital and we should pay attention to it.

Along with sleep research, science also gets to its resolution that may persist in the thickness of everyone’s life with enough sleep each day. Consequently, a fascination of exploring with people’s ability to withstand sleep is not a conducive factor to global health and safety. We should not undermine how we very easily can injure or kill people with forced domains of this sleep deprivation.

In conclusion, the question of how many hours a person should sleep is still a subject of scientific research and conjecture. Rather than groups of individuals, there have been people like Randy Gardner who have set the world record for staying up sleeplessly for a certain period of time only. On top of this, probability that will be behind in sleep significantly forces us to look at the sleep problems and follow healthy sleep recommendations. As the journey of living continues to go on, do not also forget the advantages of having a good sleep on a well-balanced and happy daily life.