Eat. Sleep. Repeat. It’s the daily cycle of life for billions of people. Sleep is an essential part of this cycle and without it, your brain and body will struggle to function.
Still, even knowing the importance, sleep can be hard to come by for many. Demanding work environments, stressful academic pursuits, or harsh deadlines can quickly lead to skipping sleep.
In this guide, we’re going to look at sleep and how long you can go without it.
What is sleep deprivation?
Skipping sleep, whether merely hours or full days is known as sleep deprivation. A body that is deprived of sleep may struggle to function as it normally does. Furthermore, the effects can be lasting if you consistently don’t get enough sleep.
This level of “enough sleep” varies by age, but here are some guidelines to go by.
| Age Group | Recommended Hours of Sleep (per 24-hour period) |
|---|---|
| Newborn (0-3 months) | 14-17 hours |
| Infant (4-12 months) | 12-16 hours (including naps) |
| Toddler (1-2 years) | 11-14 hours (including naps) |
| Preschool (3-5 years) | 10-13 years |
| School Age (6-12 years) | 9-12 hours |
| Teenager (13-18 years) | 8-10 hours |
| Adult (18-60 years) | 7 hours or more |
| Adult (61-64 years) | 7-9 hours |
| Adult (65+ years) | 7-8 hours |
Can you go 24 hours without sleep?
Yes, you can go 24 hours without sleep and many people do. For most people, this would be considered an “all-nighter” and is a strategy oftentimes used to finish a task / job or to meet a deadline.
When people feel like there are not enough hours in the day, going one night without sleep is a common solution.
That being said, even though the habit is somewhat normalized, all-nighters are far from healthy.
Going even 24 hours without sleep may cause cognitive impairment equal to that of a blood alcohol level of 0.10%.
Note: This blood alcohol level is above the legel limit in all 50 states.
Without sleep for a single day, your judgment, memory, and hand-eye coordination skills deteriorate. You may also feel bouts of extreme irritability, easily triggered by seemingly small stimulants.
Recovering from an all-nighter can take a couple of days, depending on other factors like stress and how many consecutive hours you stayed awake.
Click here for a guide on the best ways to pull an all-nighter.
Can you go 48 hours without sleep?
People who go 48 hours without sleep experience all of the effects at the 24-hour mark and then some. Fatigue will become overpowering at times and it would likely be difficult to focus on any detailed task.
Need help getting to sleep? Check out our guide for the Best Sleep Books: 13 Books to Improve & Better Understand Your Sleep
Multitasking would be extremely difficult and you may before to experience hallucinations, daydreams, or visions.
Without traditional sleep, the brain will try and remedy the situation by engaging in an act called microsleep.
Microsleeps happen when the brain slips into an unconscious state of sleep that can last a few seconds, in an effort to recharge.
Can you go a week without sleep?
If you try and go a solid week without sleep, chances are you won’t make it. Over the course of time, without drug stimulants, your brain will force itself to get some sleep.
Two recorded instances of people who stayed up for a solid week provided mixed results in terms of lasting effects.
Peter Tripp: The DJ in the Glass Booth
The first instance was a radio show host named Peter Tripp. In an effort to raise money for a children’s organization, he set up a glass booth in the middle of Times Square and vowed to stay awake for over 200 hours.
While he did complete the experiment, he was said to have experienced hallucinations and irritability, cursing at the crowd by day 3. Well after the experiment, history shows that he lost his wife, lost his job, and ended up becoming a traveling salesman.
Randy Gardner: The World Record Holding Teenager
The world record for the longest length of time without sleep is 11 days and 24 minutes, a record held by 17-year-old, Randy Gardner in 1964.
What started as a high school experiment for the science fair, ultimately garnered national attention.
Without outside drugs or stimulants, Gardner stayed awake with activities, prompts, basketball, and other brain games.
Although he did notice mental capacity draining among other effects like hallucinations, loss of sense of touch, and loss of coordination, he ultimately completed the challenge and earned the world record.
Following his experiment, Gardner slept for a reported 14 hours (while being monitored at a naval hospital) before resuming daily life activities.
That being said, in his later years, Gardner reported having extreme insomnia and difficulty sleeping at all.
Will your body eventually force you to sleep?
Without outside stimulants or drugs, your body will eventually force you to sleep. Brains are designed to protect the body and part of that protection is forcing sleep when it’s needed.
Before you collapse into a deep sleep, you may notice your head nodding, slower eye blinks, or sudden (seemingly involuntary) muscular jolts.
Over time, you will simply not be able to resist the urge to sleep and you will fall asleep, even against your physical will.
Effects of Sleep Deprivation
The effects of sleep deprivation may vary depending on the conditions. Was it a single all-nighter that has left you feeling weak? Or multiple days without sleep? In a pinch, you can push your body to the limit and skip sleep for a day or two.
Under these circumstances, your body will begin to feel the effects of short-term sleep deprivation, also known as acute sleep deprivation.
Interestingly enough, if you consistently get less sleep than you should (ex: 7 hours each night compared to the desired 8 hours), you may suffer from the effects of chronic sleep deprivation.
Here is a side-by-side look at what happens to your brain and body when it doesn’t get enough sleep.
- Drowsiness
- Fatigue
- Impaired judgment
- Decreased coordination
- Inability to focus
- Higher risk of accidents
- Irritability / Anger
- Increased stress
- Anxiety / depression
- Higher risk for diabetes (T1)
- Weight gain and / or obesity
- Under eye circles
- Increased risk for heart attack
- High blood pressure
- Lowered fertility
- Muscle soreness or aches
Final Thoughts
At the end of the day, sleep is critically important to your physical and emotional health. It is your body’s chance to recharge and repair itself. Without sleep, there are lasting effects that can really affect your long-term health and well-being.
Citations
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- All-nighters: Helpful or harmful? Sleep Foundation. (2022, June 29). Retrieved January 19, 2023, from https://www.sleepfoundation.org/sleep-hygiene/why-are-all-nighters-harmful
- BBC. (n.d.). The boy who stayed awake for 11 days. BBC Future. Retrieved January 19, 2023, from https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20180118-the-boy-who-stayed-awake-for-11-days
- Blood alcohol concentration limits for enforcement of impaired driving laws — U.S. states – 2001. Breathalyzer Alcohol Tester. (n.d.). Retrieved January 19, 2023, from http://www.breathalyzeralcoholtester.com/state-bac-limits
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2022, September 14). How much sleep do I need? Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Retrieved January 19, 2023, from https://www.cdc.gov/sleep/about_sleep/how_much_sleep.html
- Cuncic, A. (2022, December 8). What is chronic sleep deprivation? Verywell Mind. Retrieved January 19, 2023, from https://www.verywellmind.com/an-overview-of-chronic-sleep-deprivation-4770156
- MediLexicon International. (n.d.). How long can you go without sleep?: Effects of sleep deprivation. Medical News Today. Retrieved January 19, 2023, from https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/324799#how-much-sleep-do-you-need
- Nunez, K. (2020, May 26). Sleep deprivations stages: The 5 stages and what they mean. Healthline. Retrieved January 19, 2023, from https://www.healthline.com/health/sleep-deprivation/sleep-deprivation-stages
- Sleep deprivation: Causes, symptoms, & treatment. Sleep Foundation. (2022, November 3). Retrieved January 19, 2023, from https://www.sleepfoundation.org/sleep-deprivation
- Sleep deprivation: Causes, symptoms, & treatment. Sleep Foundation. (2022, November 3). Retrieved January 19, 2023, from https://www.sleepfoundation.org/sleep-deprivation
- Sleep deprivation: What it is, symptoms, treatment & stages. Cleveland Clinic. (n.d.). Retrieved January 19, 2023, from https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/23970-sleep-deprivation
- Tionquiao, M. (2020, August 22). Teenage boy stayed awake for 11 days in the name of Science. Elite Readers. Retrieved January 19, 2023, from https://www.elitereaders.com/teen-experiment-lack-sleepless-world-record/
- U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (n.d.). What are sleep deprivation and deficiency? National Heart Lung and Blood Institute. Retrieved January 19, 2023, from https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/sleep-deprivation
- Williamson, A. M., & Feyer, A. M. (2000, October). Moderate sleep deprivation produces impairments in cognitive and motor performance equivalent to legally prescribed levels of alcohol intoxication. Occupational and environmental medicine. Retrieved January 19, 2023, from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1739867/
