Can sleep deprivation kill you?

[Xanikk999]

Can sleep deprivation kill you?

At first I assume it would but is it even possible to stay awake for so long that you die due to a lack of sleep instead of passing out?

What is it that actually kills you due to a lack of sleep? Does your heart stop beating or something?

If anyone has anything interesting to say on sleep deprivation please pitch in. I just have never heard of someone dying due to a lack of sleep other than having a fatal form of insomnia. Even with that disease I am not sure if it is because of sleep deprivation or brain damage that you eventually die.

 

[JohnRM]

Technically yes, but as you pointed out, it is extremely hard to stay awake long enough.

 

[emzie]

Exhaustion can kill you, like one of those Korean gamers who have a heart attack at the end of some epic gaming marathon.

 

[Ajidica]

One of my friends stayed awake for three days straight with only caffine. Needless to say, by the end we were quite convinced he was halucinating.

 

[Ataxerxes]

Can sleep deprivation kill you?

At first I assume it would but is it even possible to stay awake for so long that you die due to a lack of sleep instead of passing out?

What is it that actually kills you due to a lack of sleep? Does your heart stop beating or something?

If anyone has anything interesting to say on sleep deprivation please pitch in. I just have never heard of someone dying due to a lack of sleep other than having a fatal form of insomnia. Even with that disease I am not sure if it is because of sleep deprivation or brain damage that you eventually die.

Aside from that extremely rare disorder, no, not directly. If you really need sleep, your body is going to get it for you. Sometimes you may get it when you don't want it - such as when driving. Your body is wired to respond to extreme deprivation by sleeping and it becomes extremely hard to resist going to sleep before it would become fatal.

There are more common disorders, such as Sleep Apnea and Narcolepsy, but they aren't directly fatal either. However, falling asleep suddenly and uncontrollably can be fatal depending on what you're doing. Another problem is that lack of sleep compromises the immune system.

 

[berkut]

you will die from heart attack. My dad take pills to sleep.

 

[FriendlyFire]

takes about 6-8 months before you die.

 

[Hygro]

Exhaustion can kill you, like one of those Korean gamers who have a heart attack at the end of some epic gaming marathon.

He was playing Starcraft for over 2 days straight.

I remember when I bought Starcraft II and I beat the single player in one sitting, by hour 35 I was thinking "wait, can't I die doing this?"

 

[Narz]

One of my friends stayed awake for three days straight with only caffine. Needless to say, by the end we were quite convinced he was halucinating.

I've stayed up 72 hours straight before, it's not that big a deal.

I found it interesting that the longest time spent within sleep is lower than the longest without water, IIRC.

 

[Ajidica]

That seems odd as I'm pretty sure the body goes into shock if it goes more then 48 hours without water.

 

[Naval Power]

What about ... if you were tortured into staying awake?

 

[Narz]

That seems odd as I'm pretty sure the body goes into shock if it goes more then 48 hours without water.

According to the Guinness Book of Records it's 18 days according to wiki. Record for sleep (also according to wiki with some dispute) is 11 days.

 

[FriendlyFire]

One of my friends stayed awake for three days straight with only caffine. Needless to say, by the end we were quite convinced he was halucinating.

Are we talking about people whom "cannot" sleep due some strange disorder or normal people trying to stay awake for long periods ?

What I read was at about the 72 hr mark you start getting halliucination as part of the brain starts to shut down. You have micro sleeps and repeated sleep depervations will cause long term brain disorders.

People with disorders whom cannot sleep surived about 6 months of total awakeness. But they do try to attempt to "rest" but not sleep as organs and other functions of the human body need to its rest while you are asleep. Death iirc was by eventual medical problems from multiple problems brought on by not sleeping.

 

[GhostWriter16]

People with disorders whom cannot sleep surived about 6 months of total awakeness

Are you serious? How the heck can you survive that long?

The longest I've ever been awake straight was something on the order of 26 hours, and I was pretty tired after that, but six months?

How can one survive that long?

 

[bernie14]

Are we talking about people whom "cannot" sleep due some strange disorder or normal people trying to stay awake for long periods ?

What I read was at about the 72 hr mark you start getting halliucination as part of the brain starts to shut down. You have micro sleeps and repeated sleep depervations will cause long term brain disorders.

People with disorders whom cannot sleep surived about 6 months of total awakeness. But they do try to attempt to "rest" but not sleep as organs and other functions of the human body need to its rest while you are asleep. Death iirc was by eventual medical problems from multiple problems brought on by not sleeping.

this is pretty accurate iirc, the average person begins to hallucinate at around 3 days, the brain actually tries to go into REM, or "dream while awake" if the person is not allowed to go to sleep.....i recall that when seeking (trying to diagnose) certain types of seizures disorders (temporal lobe particularly), we would sleep deprive patients at least 24 hours, so that indicates that the certain parts of the brain are going to be more "irritable" when sleep deprived.... other possible factors may have to do with the timing of certain chemicals released by the body (circadian rhythm) at certain times related to sleep wake cycles.....i do recall a prospective national inst. of mental health study done in the 90's showing that premorbid (pre-existing) insomnia was a major factor in developing mental disorders, especially mood disorders (people with insomnia were like 10-20 x more likely to develop mood disorders).....

visa/versa...patients with significant metabolic imbalances have messed up "sleep cycles/consiousness/unconsiousness" (delirium/AMS...Nanocy probably has more experience with that type of pt than i)

so sleep deprevation certainly messes with your brain/body chemistry big time....just how long can an average person live without ANY consecutive sleep??? and which organ system fails first???.... perhaps the nazis answered that one?

 

[Narz]

Many mornings after not having gotten enough sleep I'll dream I am waking up, taking a piss, getting ready for school/work/child rearing only to then really wake up & realizing I've been dreaming it. My body appears to be fooling me into staying asleep just "one more turn".

There was a Calvin & Hobbes strip that alerted me that I was not alone in this phenomenon.

 

[Integral]

What about ... if you were tortured into staying awake?

As gruesome as it sounds, I would actually expect the US military to have some decent data on whether sleep deprivation can kill someone...

 

[azzaman333]

Can sleep deprivation kill you?

Yes it can.

 

[Skwink]

Many mornings after not having gotten enough sleep I'll dream I am waking up, taking a piss, getting ready for school/work/child rearing only to then really wake up & realizing I've been dreaming it. My body appears to be fooling me into staying asleep just "one more turn".

There was a Calvin & Hobbes strip that alerted me that I was not alone in this phenomenon.

My best dreams always happen once I wake up at about 6 am and fall asleep a few minutes later.

 

[pob]

I have a sleep disorder. If 11 days is the world record for no sleep, then I've probably been pretty close to beating that. In the past it was common for me to go 4 or 5 days without sleep. It probably did put a great deal of stress on my body.
With the help of medication, I can now keep my sleeping patterns controlled and the best rythm for keeping in sync with my friends and family is for me to sleep every two days.