What happens if you don't go to bed for two days or a week. What happens if you don't sleep for a long time, scientific facts

If a person is deprived of sleep for 7 days, then starting from the 5th day there is a high risk of dying from lack of sleep - for example, from a heart attack due to hallucinations. This is how humans are designed - we need to recuperate after a day's work. During sleep, the subconscious is actively involved in the work, processing information accumulated during the day occurs. The muscles of the body are resting, the internal organs are quietly busy with their functioning, consciousness is turned off. Why is it so important to go to bed at the right time, sleep enough time and under no circumstances deprive yourself of sleep for a long time? This is easy to understand if you trace what happens to a person suffering from insomnia for various reasons. The consequences are dire...

1st day
1 day without sleep is quite a bit. Surely you will remember a situation when you didn’t have to go to bed for a whole day. Fatigue, poor memory and concentration, wandering attention, headache, indigestion - this is what is usually observed after a sleepless night. Memory and attention cannot function normally due to the fact that neocortex did not recover overnight. All systems in the body are connected, which is why other organs react to lack of sleep. For health, 1 day cannot cause significant damage, but the state of health is very unpleasant.

2–3 days
Not only attention is impaired, but also coordination of movements. Frontal lobes of the brain They cannot work normally without proper rest, so you can forget about creative thinking. A person left without sleep for 3 days is in a state of nervous exhaustion. Nervous tics and panic attacks may occur. The appetite will increase, because under stress the body will release a large amount of the hormone cortisol, which promotes uncontrollable food eating. You want fried, salty, spicy things, and this despite the fact that the digestive system works poorly and unsystematically. Oddly enough, falling asleep is very difficult - again due to overwork of the nervous system.

4–5th day
Hallucinations will definitely appear. The person will speak incoherently, have a poor understanding of what is happening to him, and solving the simplest problems will become impossible for him. In this case, irritability and anger will increase in proportion to the time spent without sleep. Parietal area and prefrontal cortex will refuse to work, that's why all this is happening.

6–7th day
American student Randy Gardner did not sleep for 11 days. Already on day 7, he behaved extremely strangely, experiencing severe hallucinations and exhibiting symptoms of Alzheimer's disease. Tremor of the limbs, inability to think sensibly and severe paranoia - this is what he had to endure for the sake of a scientific experiment.

Among the causes of insomnia are nervous and muscle strain, pain and digestive disorders. Stuffiness, bright light, an uncomfortable bed - this is what prevents you from falling asleep. Insomnia itself is considered the cause of many diseases; doctors say: if you want to get better, first get rid of insomnia. But it happens that a person does not sleep for several days on his own initiative - this may be related to work. In doing so, you must be aware of the consequences of disruption to normal life. It is recommended to sleep at night, and not during the day, because in complete darkness the human body produces melatonin hormone. Melatonin prolongs youth, improves brain function, and protects a person from cancer. Sleep is a medicine that everyone needs.

Surely many have encountered a situation where they had to stay awake at night. For example, it could be the night before a session, unlearned school homework. And someone needs to go to work, because the schedule is night shift. Therefore, the question of what will happen if you don’t sleep for 2 days is quite relevant. Let's try to figure out this problem.

The consequences of two nights spent without sleep

Different, most unpredictable situations happen to a person. It is clear that to feel normal 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 happens if you don't sleep for two days. The following consequences are possible:

• general, depressed state of health;
• extreme lethargy;
• stomach problems (diarrhea or constipation);
• increased appetite, and craving salty, spicy foods;
• a state close to stress;
• weakening of the immune system, making it more difficult for the body to cope with viruses;
• absent-mindedness, inability to make a quick decision if necessary;
• visual impairment (difficulty focusing on a specific object);
• it is difficult to concentrate on any thought;
• speech becomes simplified;
• problems with coordination of movements;
• headaches in combination with noises;
• blood pressure surges;
• muscle and joint pain;
• increased heart rate;
• uncontrolled irritability.

If you don’t sleep for two days, your body will begin to produce certain hormones to combat the stressful situation. After a sleepless pastime, I really want to fall asleep. But the longer you stay awake, the more difficult it is to get out of the state of wakefulness.

It is known that in certain emergency situations, the body’s backup buttons are turned on and increased activity occurs.

But, even if necessary, not everyone manages to stay awake for 2 days. At some point, an uncontrollable drowsiness sets in, when you can simply switch off. Next, we’ll talk about what to do when you need to stay awake for two days, but rest is prohibited.

How to overcome sleep if necessary?

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

We suggest you familiarize yourself with the best ways to help you stay awake for 2 days:

1. try it breathing exercises. Inhale as usual, and exhale sharply (10 repetitions). Breathing exercises will help you cheer up and warm up;
2. chew menthol gum, which will not so much refresh as cause a feeling of vivacity;
3. ventilate the room, in which you are. To cheer up and eliminate drowsiness, you need coolness. It doesn't matter what time of year it is. Cold (cool air) causes the body to activate protective functions in order to warm up. This way you can cope with drowsiness;
4. physical activity of any nature (jumping, squats, push-ups). Just a few exercises in 15 minutes are enough to cheer you up;
5. face rinse with cool or cold water on the wrists;
6. fast, even if you really want to have a snack. If you eat a large meal at night, you will immediately feel lethargic, combined with drowsiness;
7. music (rhythmic) will help you feel more energetic. If possible, sing along and dance. The sound must be moderate to hear the words of the songs. Thus, listening to words forces your brain to work;
8. bright lighting will help fight drowsiness. Dimmed light, on the contrary, relaxes;
9. massage movements the areas of the back of the neck, ears (lobes), under the knees and between the fingers (thumb and index), will improve blood flow and relieve fatigue;
10. make yourself uncomfortable. Use a chair with a hard seat and back to sit, spend some time standing;
11. use strong, tart scents. Even an unpleasant aroma will invigorate and eliminate fatigue during the night;
12. try it touch the upper palate with your tongue, then tickle him. It will feel easier immediately;
13. you can get distracted, watching a funny video, or discussing on a forum that interests you.

The tips listed will help if you need to stay awake 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 you cheer up for 20 minutes. But it’s still better to do without caffeine while awake at night, and use the methods described above.

Anyone can remember an episode from their life when they had to stay awake for at least one night. For some, this was due to long parties, New Year's holidays, others were trying to prepare for a session, to complete some task, while others were required to stay awake by work. But what happens if you don’t sleep for a long time? How will this affect the condition of the body? After all, there may be situations when there is a need to stay awake longer than one night.

Sleep is very important for the body, since at this time all systems are restored and rested. The brain processes the information received during the day, and the immune system is restored. Therefore, regular and long sleep is extremely important. It allows you to maintain body functions in a stable state. So, let's look at what happens if you don't sleep for a day or even several nights in a row.

What happens after a day of no sleep?

If you don’t sleep for 1 day, there won’t be any special problems in your body. If you break out of the stable regime once over a long period of time, there will be no serious disturbances in the body. Of course, after this you need to refrain from driving a car and performing other important work that requires concentration. But in general, such a person will not lose his ability to work and will feel normal. Moreover, if you work according to a special schedule, your body will soon get used to the fact that you periodically have to stay up all night.

Of course, the next day after being awake, a person will periodically feel a terrible desire to sleep. To eliminate it, you can drink coffee or another invigorating drink. You may also experience a decrease in concentration, a deterioration in the ability to remember, some weakness and even chills. If a sleep-deprived person travels on public transport or sits waiting in line, he may suddenly fall asleep.

The next night, many have trouble sleeping, which is due to excess dopamine entering the blood.

So, is it possible to not sleep the night before an important event? If you are preparing for an exam, wedding or other events, you should not stay awake at night. The body will only be more tired, and the brain will not recover from the stress it endured during the day. As a result, mental functions will be depressed, and intellectual abilities will temporarily decrease. Signs of inattention and absent-mindedness will appear, indicating lack of sleep. Lack of sleep is also reflected in your appearance - the skin becomes more faded, bags appear under the eyes, and the cheeks are slightly puffy.

It is very important not to lose the sleep-wake rhythm, because if the body does not sleep for 24 hours in a row, the brain suffers significantly from this. The following symptoms are observed:

• loss of orientation in time;
• excessive sensitivity to light;
• incoherent speech;
• color vision disturbance;
• change in emotional background;
• the appearance of causeless and uncontrollable vivid emotions (crying, laughter, anger, rage, etc.).

The consequences of two sleepless nights

There are situations when there is a need to stay awake for more than one day. And in this case, the question arises: if you don’t sleep for 2 days, what will happen? This is a more serious situation that is harder for the body to tolerate. Not only symptoms of drowsiness may be observed, but also obvious disturbances in the functioning of internal organs, in particular the gastrointestinal tract. Patients complain of diarrhea, heartburn and other dyspeptic symptoms. In addition, the appetite becomes stronger, a person wants to eat fatty and salty foods. When experiencing stress, the body begins to overproduce hormones responsible for the wakefulness cycle. What’s interesting is that if a person doesn’t sleep for more than a day, it will be difficult for him to fall asleep later.

After 2 sleepless nights, metabolic disorders in the body are observed, in particular, glucose metabolism. The immune system also deteriorates, so viral diseases are becoming more common after such insomnia.

The result of two nights of insomnia is the following:

• inattention;
• absent-mindedness;
• deterioration of speech;
• a sharp decrease in concentration;
• coordination of movements worsens;
• a sharp decrease in cognitive abilities.

Consequence of three days of insomnia

If you don't sleep all night for 3 days in a row, the consequences will be even more serious than in the previous two cases. The symptoms are the same, but more pronounced. Movements become even more uncoordinated, severe problems with speech are observed, and sometimes a nervous tic appears. You also lose your appetite and experience regular nausea. Patients also note other symptoms - coldness in the hands, chills in general. Often, those who do not get enough sleep focus their gaze on a specific object and cannot take it away from this point.

If you don't sleep for 3 days or more, a person may experience failures. That is, at some time his brain may turn off and fall asleep for a short period. This is due to the shutdown of a number of control areas of the brain, that is, this is not a full-fledged sleep. So, a person can switch off and not notice how he passed 5 stations on the metro. Sometimes the purpose of a trip is forgotten, and you may not notice how a certain section was covered.

If you don't sleep for 4 days

Not everyone knows what will happen to the brain if you don’t sleep for 4 days. And this is understandable, because such a test is very difficult for the body and not everyone has passed it. It is enough not to sleep for a day for cognitive abilities to temporarily decrease by 30%; after two days the decrease will be 60%. Considering such dynamics, it becomes clear that after 4 days of wakefulness, the consciousness will be quite confused, and the body will be exhausted. The person will be very irritable, his appearance will deteriorate significantly, and tremors of the limbs will appear.. Outwardly, such a patient will look much older than his age.

Consequences of 5 days of lack of sleep

If you don't sleep for 5 days, the patient will begin to suffer from paranoia and hallucinations. Panic attacks for any reason are often observed. At the same time, the patient breaks out in a cold sweat and the heartbeat increases.

Due to 5 days of wakefulness, the neural activity of the brain slows down significantly, which affects the functioning of the entire body.

Particularly affected by such experiments are the areas of the parietal zone responsible for logic and computational abilities. After a period of sleeplessness, a person cannot even carry out basic mathematical operations. His speech also deteriorates significantly, which is associated with disorders in the temporal lobe. When it comes to hallucinations, they can be auditory, visual, or dream-like.

What happens if you don't sleep for a week

Many people are interested in what will happen if you don’t sleep for 6 or 7 days. Will the body be able to withstand this load? Indeed, this is a very difficult task that not everyone can handle. The person looks somewhat like a drug addict, his speech is very difficult, and some symptoms of Alzheimer's disease appear.

Weekends for many people are an opportunity to have time to rest for the entire last working week, and few manage to get enough sleep. What will happen if you don’t sleep at all and what will come of it - in our material.

First day

The first day without sleep will not cause serious consequences for health and well-being. However, it is absolutely certain that the circadian cycle, which is responsible for a person’s internal biological clock, will fail.

Circadian rhythms are associated with the activity of the brain and metabolism and the circadian clock is “checked” with the 24-hour light cycle of day and night, so one day without sleep will lead to minor disruptions in the functioning of the human body. A person who has not slept for one day will, of course, feel tired and have some problems with memory and attention.

Second and third days

In addition to the fact that fatigue will intensify and memory function will deteriorate, there will also be a lack of coordination of movements, noticeable problems with concentrating thoughts and concentrating vision. A slight nervous tic may appear due to exhaustion of the nervous system.

The degradation of speech will begin - it will become monotonous and replete with cliches. Disruption of the frontal lobe of the brain will lead to a deterioration in creative thinking and the inability to focus on a task.

In addition to the deterioration of the functioning of the nervous system and brain, the digestive system will work unusually - this is a consequence of the “inclusion” of the body’s evolutionary defense during a long period of wakefulness, in the form of a “fight or flight” mechanism.

The production of leptin will increase and the appetite will increase, especially for salty and fatty foods - the body in a stressful situation triggers the function of storing fats, as well as the production of insomnia hormones, which means it will not be easy for a person to fall asleep.

Fourth-fifth days

During this period, a person may experience hallucinations and severe irritability. On the fifth day without sleep, there will be a pronounced slowdown in the functioning of areas of the brain, and accordingly, neural activity will be very weak.

Solving simple arithmetic problems will be an impossible task for him, due to serious disruptions in the functioning of the parietal zone, which is responsible for logic.

The temporal lobe, which controls speech abilities, will continue to work worse and worse - speech will become even more incoherent than on the second or third day of wakefulness.

Sixth-seventh day

On the sixth day, a person will be radically different from himself in a normal state. Behavior will change greatly, and auditory hallucinations will be added to visual hallucinations.

Mental abnormalities on the seventh day will acquire a pronounced character - paranoia, hallucinations, signs of Alzheimer's disease, persecution mania, signs of schizophrenia. A person can easily communicate on equal terms with a road sign, prove something to him and be sure that a radio host is hunting him and wants to kill him. This was the case with the record holder for insomnia, Randy Gardner, who went without sleep for 11 days in total.

Randy had severe tremors of the limbs - this is a consequence of excessive exhaustion of the nervous system. He lost coherent speech, and solving problems was no longer his thing; he simply forgot the question that was asked to him.
On the seventh day, the human body experiences severe stress. Immunity will seriously decline, brain activity will be extremely weak, and the functioning of the liver, kidneys and other systems will deteriorate.

Below, especially for those who do not believe in such disruptions to the functioning of the human body, we will present the story of our compatriot, who decided to conduct a similar experiment on himself.

The first day

I woke up and decided not to sleep today. I need to do things that I don't have time to do. 2 am - I feel fine. At the same time I correspond with friends on ICQ.
Got things done.

Second day

At 6 am I felt nauseous. I ate, watched TV, played a game, the nausea went away. Feeling slightly tired and weak. 13:00 pm - no feeling tired or weak. A feeling of mild anesthesia throughout the entire body.

Day three

I'm afraid not to sleep yet. Why? I want to sleep. Stay calm and carry on. OK. He began to speak more slowly. The anesthesia is felt more on the tongue. Sometimes freezes in body movement occur. The easiest part of the body to control is the eyes. I am playing a game. Irritable. Delusional ideas are weakly expressed.

Day four

I have a feeling that the day is unusual, very long. I began to forget what happened on days 1 and 2. It's good to have a notepad. Where's the pen?
I searched for 30 minutes. It turned out it was in my left hand. I began to see myself from the outside. The body is weakly felt. Sometimes a “blackout” effect occurs (the processor lags) for 1-10 minutes, although with my eyes open. Delusional ideas are strongly expressed.

Day five

I read what happened to me on the first and second days. I don't think this happened to me. It seems that the day and life in general are endless. Specifically, hallucinations that at times turn into euphoria. Loss of memory and body awareness. I can independently, and sometimes without control, leave my body and fly up to 10 meters near me. And what’s most interesting is that I can walk while controlling myself like in a 3rd person game. Delusional ideas are very pronounced. I do not want to sleep.

Day six

I sat on a chair and looked at one point on the monitor for about two hours. He jumped up sharply and ran to the turned off TV. I started convincing the top of the TV that I should pick up the brushes from my place of study. They are in danger. Slow speech. As I pass by, I hit the corners and stop to take in this impact for 2 minutes. Then I turn on. There is an opportunity, the ability to predict what will happen next in an event. It often becomes scary. I see different people. Imagination is highly developed - objects can walk, and I can control them. I understood the fullness of the word Insanity.

Day seven

I am in heaven? The notebook cannot be written on. Limbs twitch and tremble. Oddities in behavior. Vegetable. If a person touches me, then he will be lucky if I answer in a minute or a minute and a half. Due to lack of sleep, severe memory loss continues.
Next, I know almost only what people told me. I don't smile. Facial expressions in sleep mode. Eyes move wildly in different directions.
I decide to end the experiment. I'm not very happy that I can sleep. I don't believe.
Lay down. I leave my body and circle over my corpse for about ten minutes, seeing myself from the outside. The chandelier begins to descend and the ceiling begins to press down on me. I don't remember how I fell asleep.
Slept for 10 hours.

Day eight

I'm alive. I understand who I am. No headache. I want to eat. I want to drink. Feeling of reality. Inadequate understanding of the time of day. I don't remember what happened. I took a notepad and began to remember. I entered all the notes into the computer. I'm glad.

Such experiments with your health are extremely undesirable and can be dangerous. Sleep is a necessity developed over millions of years of evolution that cannot be overpowered, so do not test yourself, but trust your body and go to bed on time.

Your body works in accordance with biorhythms, regardless of whether you are sleeping or not. Late in the evening, in the middle of the night, at dawn and in the middle of the day, inhuman fatigue will roll over you. You'll feel like if you don't lie down right now, you'll just fall asleep sitting up. This state will last about 20 minutes, and then a surge of vigor will come. But few people like to sit for 20 minutes in a state of suspended animation, so the body will have to be deceived. Coffee won't help here, but physical activity will. Get up, stretch, jump and do some exercises. The more active the movements, the better. Over millions of years, our bodies have not changed much, so physical activity outside of school hours means one thing - danger is somewhere nearby. You seem to be running from a saber-toothed tiger, otherwise why would you jump in the middle of the night? This means that the body mobilizes strength and drowsiness will disappear as if by hand. This also works during the day.

Don't drink too much coffee

Only the first cup invigorates, and all the subsequent ones only aggravate the situation and you become more and more sleepy. Here's the thing: caffeine is absorbed very quickly and increases blood pressure, so you'll feel much more alert within 15 minutes. But after an hour you will be even more drawn to sleep, and with each subsequent cup it will be more and more difficult to fight sleep. The fact is that coffee contains not only caffeine, but also theophylline, theobromine and vitamin R.R. These substances, on the contrary, lower blood pressure, which makes you want to sleep. Therefore, with each cup of aromatic drink, it’s like you’re rocking a swing more and more: you’re becoming more and more energetic every half hour, and then you’re being pulled more and more into a horizontal position. And the more coffee you drink, the more difficult it will be for you to fight sleepiness.

Drink green tea

A cup of green tea has as much caffeine as a cup of espresso. But its effect on your body will be much milder, and you will remain cheerful longer. The combination of caffeine and tannin found in tea works a little differently than caffeine alone.

Turn on the lights

If you need to spend a sleepless night at home, don't skimp and turn on bright lights everywhere, not just in the room where you are. The same goes for a cloudy day after a sleepless night. This is just a way to trick the brain: when it is light around, it is more difficult for it to go into sleep mode. If you haven't slept at night and need to spend the day at the computer, adjust your monitor settings: the brighter the colors, the easier it will be to fight drowsiness.

take a shower

Everyone knows that a contrast shower helps to cheer up. Of course, this is the best way to recover after a sleepless night, but on one condition: if that night you did not drink anything stronger than coffee. If you come from a party in the morning, a contrast shower is contraindicated for you. Your blood vessels have already suffered, they don’t need the extra load now. You will be invigorated for 5 minutes, and then your head will hurt and you will fall asleep. It's better to take a warm bath and gradually change the water temperature to cool.

Make a coffee scrub

Don't skimp and don't use the grounds from your cup - you need freshly ground coffee. Apply shower gel to your body, then take a handful of coffee and rub yourself all over. The skin will become fabulously smooth, and the charge of vigor will definitely last for three hours.

Eat something tasty

And finally, the most pleasant advice: try to eat only what you love all day. On the Internet you can find a list of products that supposedly charge you with energy, but in this case they will not help you. But your favorite food is a guaranteed pleasure, that is, a guaranteed increase in endorphin levels. And this cunning hormone makes us feel not only happy, but also cheerful, full and strong and ready to move mountains.