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| Thread: Sleep Deprivation |  This thread is pages long: 1 2 · NEXT» |
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Wolfman
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posted March 02, 2009 11:12 AM |
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Sleep Deprivation
I don't know if anyone else has ever had an interest in sleep deprivation experiments, but I have for a long time. I always thought I would do my own experiment similar to this kid. Actually, I think I was this kid's age when I started toying with the idea of doing this. I just never found the time, something was always going on. I had work or school or something always. And of course it probably isn't a good idea to drive to work/school without having any sleep, so I never got around to experimenting.
Recently I transferred to another university and I live on campus now. Which is great because it means I don't have to drive anywhere anymore, everything is within a 15-20 minute walk from where I live on campus.
I have recently been having trouble getting to sleep. For several weeks I would just lay in bed awake for well over an hour and just could not fall asleep, no matter what I did. I wasn't taking any caffeine really, or anything like that. Even if I would work out that day it wouldn't matter. It seemed like no level of fatigue would help me fall asleep any faster.
After I had been in my new environment for a few weeks I had mentioned to my dad back home that I was amazed that I was able to get a normal 8 hours of sleep. That was before I was having problems. Some people that live in my building suggested that maybe my problem was just because I wasn't used to it yet. But I dismissed that because I was fine for several weeks before the problems started.
One night laying awake in bed (obviously) I decided to start playing with my sleep schedule. My first mini experiment was to sleep twice for shorter lengths of time per day. A friend called them "combat naps". I did this for several days and it seemed to work out pretty well, except for the fact that I have a roommate and I would have to go to the library or something in the middle of the night to work instead of staying in my room. So after a few days I went back to as normal a routine as I could.
For the past few days I have been staying up later and later into the early hours of the morning. Today being the height of that. It is 5AM right now and I have been awake for 19 hours and have no plans to go to sleep anytime soon. In fact, the large recreation center opens in about 20 minutes so I think I'll go work out. Shouldn't have to fight anyone for a treadmill I would guess. Only crazy people are awake at 5:30 AM.
Unfortunately, I picked a terrible time to do this. I have class today but I'm lucky that it is my favorite class so I should be able to stay awake rather easily.
I've looked up a few things on sleep deprivation and came upon this story which I will post at the bottom here. Apparently after a while I will start to hallucinate. I'm a little curious as to what that will be like since I have never done drugs or anything.
Has anyone here ever done anything with sleep deprivation themselves? What was it like/what happened?
Famous Experiment
What would happen if you stay awake, say, oh for 11 days straight? Would you suffer brain damage or even die? Here’s the story of a high school stunt that turned into a real scientific research into sleep deprivation from Alex Boese’s Elephants on Acid and Other Bizarre Experiments.
On the first day, Randy Gardner woke at six A.M. feeling alert and ready to go. By day two he had begun to drag, experiencing a fuzzy-headed lack of focus. When handed series of objects, he struggled to recognize them by touch alone. The third day he became uncharacteristically moody, snapping at his friends. He had trouble repeating common tongue twisters such as Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers. By the fourth day, the sand-clawed demons of sleep were scraping at the back of his eyeballs. He suddenly and inexplicably hallucinated that he was Paul Lowe, a large black football player for the San Diego Chargers. Gardner, in reality, was white, seventeen years old, and 130 pounds soaking wet.
Gardner, a San Diego high school student, was the subject of a self-imposed sleep-deprivation experiment. He had resolved to find out what would happen to his mind and body if he stayed awake from December 28, 1963 to January 8, 1964, a total of 264 hours - eleven days. Assisting him were two classmates, Bruce McAllister and Joe Marciano Jr. They kept him awake and tracked his condition by administering a series of tests. They planned to enter the results in the Greater San Diego High School Science Fair. But transforming the ordeal from a science fair stunt into one of the most widely cited sleep-deprivation experiments ever conducted was the arrival of Stanford researcher William C. Dement, who flew down from Palo Alto to be with Randy as soon as he heard what was going on.
Animal Study Ends in DEATH!
No one knew what Randy might experience, as more days passed, or whether he might cause himself permanent brain damage, because only a handful of sleep-deprivation trials had ever been conducted. One of the earliest studies in this field had come to an inauspicious conclusion. In 1984 1894 Russian physician Marie de Manaceine kept four puppies awake almost five days, at which point the puppies died. She reported that the research was "excessively painful," not only for the puppies but for herself as well. Apparently monitoring sleepy puppies 24/7 is hard work.
However, the few studies conducted on humans offered more hope. In 1896 doctors J. Allen Gilbert and George Patrick kept an assistant professor and two instructors awake in their lab at the University of Iowa for ninety hours. After the second night, the assistant professor hallucinated that "the floor was covered with a greasy-looking, molecular layer of rapidly moving or oscillating particles." But no long-term side effects were observed. Then, in 1959, two disc jockeys separately staged wake-a-thons to raise money for medical research. Peter Tripp of New York stayed awake for 201 hours while broadcasting from a glass booth in Times Square. Tom Rounds of Honolulu upped the ante by remaining awake 260 hours. Both Tripp and Rounds suffered hallucinations and episodes of paranoia, but after a few good nights’ sleep they seemed fully recovered. It was Rounds’s record Gardner hoped to beat, which is why he set his goal a 264 hours.
The Experiment
Meanwhile, Gardner valiantly pressed onward, struggling to stay awake. Nights were the hardest. If he lay down for a second, he was out like a light. So his high school friends and Dr. Dement kept him active by cruising in the car, taking trips down to the donut shop, blasting music, and playing marathon games of basketball and pinball. Whenever Gardner went to the bathroom, they made him talk through the door to confirm he wasn’t dozing off. The one thing they didn’t do was give him any drugs. Not even caffeine.
As more days passed, Gardner’s speech began to slur, he had trouble focusing his eyes, he frequently grew dizzy, he had trouble remembering what he said from one minute to the next, and he was plagued by more hallucinations. One time he saw a wall dissolve in front of him and become a vision of a forest path.
To make sure he wasn’t causing himself brain damage or otherwise injuring his health, his parents insisted he get regular checkups at the naval hospital in Balboa Park - the family’s health-care provider since his father served in the military. The doctors at the hospital found nothing physically wrong with him, though he did sporadically appear confused
and disoriented.
A New World Record!
Finally, at two A.M. on January 8, Gardner broke Rounds’s record. A small crowd of doctors, parents, and classmates gathered to celebrate the event. They cheered wildly, and Gardner, busy taking calls from newsmen, responded with a V-for-victory sign. Four hours later, he was whisked away to the naval hospital where, after receiving a brief neurological checkup, he fell into deep sleep. He woke fourteen hours and forty minutes later, feeling alert and refreshed.
Gardner’s world record didn’t last long. A mere two weeks later, papers reported that Jim Thomas, a student at Fresno State College, managed to stay awake 266.5 hours. The Guinness Book of World Records subsequently recorded that in April 1977 Maureen Weston, of Petersborough, Cambridgeshire, went 449 hours without sleep while participating in a rocking chair marathon. However, Gardner’s feat remained the most well-remembered sleep-deprivation trial. To this day, no on knows the maximum amount of time a human can stay awake.
As of 2007, Gardner remains alive and well, having suffered no long-term ill effects from his experience. Despite sleep deprivation being the source of his fifteen minutes of fame, he insists he’s really not the type to pull an all-nighter and says he’s maintained a sensible sleep schedule since his youthful stunt. He does admit to lying awake some nights, but attributes this to age, not a desire to beat his old record.
Ross J. (1965) "Neurological Findings After Prolonged Sleep Deprivation." Archives of Neurology 12:399-403.
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Azagal
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posted March 02, 2009 12:17 PM |
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I once stayed awake for ~60 hours straight... and nothing strange happend to me. Well I was tired at the end of the second day but d'uh . Seems like peanuts though compared to the people you described. I didn't to it on purpose though.
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"All I can see is what's in front of me. And all I can do is keep moving forward" - The Heir Wielder of Names, Seeker of Thrones, King of Swords, Breaker of Infinities, Wheel Smashing Lord
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Mytical
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posted March 02, 2009 12:45 PM |
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While I did get a bit of sleep, one time I worked 99 hrs a week while moving at the same time. Two weeks straight (maybe an hour or two sleep a night max). At the end of that time, I barely knew my own name. So not getting sleep can affect you, but to my knowledge I suffered no lasting effect. Because I was absolutely nuts before that time
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Message received.
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baklava
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posted March 02, 2009 02:54 PM |
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Why would anyone do something like that?
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Ednaguy
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posted March 02, 2009 04:18 PM |
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Quote:
Bak, why not do it? It is good to press the limits of human capabilities.
Yeah, and it really cuts down the average death-age
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"Edna, there's a special, tiny, tiny place in hell, waiting just for you... "
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Minion
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posted March 02, 2009 04:25 PM |
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Quote:
Why would anyone do something like that?
Can't afford the drugs?
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"These friends probably started using condoms after having produced the most optimum amount of offsprings. Kudos to them for showing at least some restraint" - Tsar-ivor
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baklava
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posted March 02, 2009 04:25 PM |
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You can learn a great deal of scientific studies through reading a book. What this kid did is equivalent to learning how electricity works by throwing a hair dryer in a bath tub.
Maybe I'm not such an adventurous spirit... I don't know. My life's interesting enough without scientific experiments such as dropping a brick on my testicles to see whether it'll hurt.
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phoenixreborn
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posted March 02, 2009 06:45 PM |
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I can't even go one night without sleep.
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baklava
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posted March 02, 2009 07:51 PM |
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I, uhm, think Edna was sarcastic about this one.
But ok, as long as they're not hurting anyone, I've got no problem with them playing scientists as much as they like. I just doubt the... point of all of it.
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baklava
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posted March 02, 2009 08:01 PM |
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Well...
Let's just say that I think humanity would benefit far more from a good night's sleep. 
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del_diablo
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posted March 02, 2009 08:26 PM |
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My record is around 64-69(don't rememer the exact number of hours) on a private LAN party.
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TheDeath
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posted March 02, 2009 08:30 PM |
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Except for dreams, which I admit sometimes are pretty cool, sleep is pretty useless. There are so many alternatives to go through, and in the future we might even have a "drug" alternative that simulates sleeping while being awake (not just keeps us awake & feeling tired).
Quote:
You can learn a great deal of scientific studies through reading a book.
Or brainwash.
15 minutes of proper meditation = 4 hours of sleep or so I've read somewhere from some book.
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baklava
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posted March 02, 2009 08:54 PM |
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Quote:
There are so many alternatives to go through
Do share...
By the way, have you ever tried that meditation? And did it work?
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TheDeath
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posted March 02, 2009 09:00 PM |
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Quote:
By the way, have you ever tried that meditation? And did it work?
No, I'm not good at all at it.
But you know, books can be an alternative than trying it myself, like you said. And it had scientific experiments there included
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Elvin
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posted March 02, 2009 09:19 PM |
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Edited by Elvin at 21:20, 02 Mar 2009.
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@Baklava
 
I think my max is two days without sleep but never tried to stay awake intentionally. I am interested in scientific results but not so much in providing them myself.
I sometimes have trouble to sleep while I might have had that once or twice a year when younger. Don't know what is wrong but I think it's partly because of the computer radiation and partly because of subconscious stress, for instance there were several times when I could not sleep before exams. I felt rather relaxed but for some reason could simply not sleep.
Anyway to stay awake I will need either the above case scenario or having a night out, if I return home I don't feel like going to bed. I will read a comic, check the net, maybe chat on msn or do something that is not mentally demanding. Or as in my summer holidays when me and my friends returned in the hotel in morning and went to bed for an hour or two, not sure if I slept or just lay there. The times I have returned home 'early' I don't need much sleep to feel refreshed for the next day, it's not like I normally sleep too much anyway. My schedule is about an hour's sleep at noon-afternoon - not always of course - and from 3am till 9-11 in the morning. No matter what time I go to bed I will wake up around 10+. I think reason I started sleeping at noon was because I didn't feel like studying or did not have the mind for it and when you get up you know you have to do it High school thing, I never could sleep at noon before that.
About getting some sleep when I can't, I will usually try to clear my head or do something that will get me more tired.
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baklava
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posted March 02, 2009 09:20 PM |
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Edited by baklava at 21:21, 02 Mar 2009.
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@Deathy
Cool.
Then again, it matters which books you read. And whether the meditation process is described enough inside it. And whether you have what it takes to meditate. If all that's true, of course.
I'll still stick to sleeping though.
I just love it.
If you want to use your time more economically, reduce the amount of internetz, not the amount of sleep. That's my motto at least.
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Lord_Woock
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posted March 02, 2009 09:23 PM |
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The closest thing to the topic at hand that I can share is the story of my first all-night RPG session. My GM said he didn't want me falling asleep, so I'd be getting a strong mug of coffee, but then I said I don't drink coffee. So instead we bought a big cup of banana yoghurt and he put a heaped tablespoon of guarana in it. I ate it all and until the end of the campaign (which lasted for another 8 or 9 months) I didn't feel sleepy in the slightest during nighttime RPG sessions, despite not getting any such energy boosts.
A few weeks after I was informed that what I was given was pretty close to a lethal dose, but I'm not sure how true that statement was.
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Wolfman
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posted March 02, 2009 11:33 PM |
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Well this little experiment sucked. After about 24 hours I laid down to get some reading done for my class today and fell asleep, missed my class and now I have a wicked headache.
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TheDeath
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posted March 02, 2009 11:35 PM |
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Quote:
I'll still stick to sleeping though.
I just love it.
If you want to use your time more economically, reduce the amount of internetz, not the amount of sleep. That's my motto at least.
I dunno I just had this awesome dream last night and it gave me some ideas, so I wouldn't really deprive of it yet
But apart from dreams, it sucks
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Minion
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posted March 02, 2009 11:53 PM |
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Well after meditation I feel completely rested, and my head is clear.
But it is NOT an alternative to sleeping. The brain needs some sleep (even 4-5 hours can be enough though) And dreams can be awesome ;P
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"These friends probably started using condoms after having produced the most optimum amount of offsprings. Kudos to them for showing at least some restraint" - Tsar-ivor
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