You hear the advice that people need eight hours of sleep, but does that apply to every person? What about children, teens and older people? Many people seem to get by on less than eight so…
Randy Gardner (born 1946) holds the scientifically documented record for the longest period of time a human being has intentionally gone without sleep not using stimulants of any kind. In 1964 – as a 17-year-old high school student in San Diego, California – Gardner stayed awake for 264 hours (eleven days), breaking the previous record of 260 hours held by Tom Rounds of Honolulu. The Guinness Book of Records has, however, withdrawn its backing of a sleep deprivation class because of the associated health risks.
It is often claimed that Gardner’s experiment demonstrated that extreme sleep deprivation has little effect, other than the mood changes associated with tiredness (mood swings, short temper, loss of concentration). This is primarily due to a report by researcher William Dement, who stated that on the tenth day of the experiment, Gardner had been, among other things, able to beat Dement at pinball.
However, Lt. Cmdr. John J. Ross who monitored his health reported serious cognitive and behavioral changes. These included moodiness, problems with concentration and short term memory, paranoia, and hallucinations. On the fourth day he had a delusion that he was Paul Lowe winning the Rose Bowl, and that a street sign was a person. On the eleventh day, when he was asked to subtract seven repeatedly, starting with 100, he stopped at 65. When asked why he had stopped, he replied that he had forgotten what he was doing.
On his final day without sleep, Gardner presided over a press conference where he spoke without slurring or stumbling his words and in general appeared to be in excellent health. "I wanted to prove that bad things didn’t happen if you went without sleep," said Gardner. "I thought, ‘I can break that (Peter Tripp’s 1959) record and I don’t think it would be a negative experience."
After completing his record, Gardner slept 14 hours and 40 minutes, awoke naturally around 10:00 p.m., stayed awake 24 hours, then slept a normal eight hours.
Well, at least brave teen put him on trial voluntary, but not everyone has a chose. There is rare genetic disease Fatal Familial Insomnia which – as the first word indicates – leads to death. Usually it starts with insignificant sleeping disorder and grows fast progressively worse from simple insomnia to muscle spasm and psychosis, which leads to coma and inevitable death.
By the way, scientists tell that even slight lack of the necessary amount of sleep seriously influences mental functions. Researches were made in army where lack of sleep is a part of lifestyle but the military often have to fulfill sophisticated mental work (for instance work with air defense radars).
One night without sleep reduces cognitive functions of a soldier or officer by 30%, one night without sleep after the other reduces by 60%. Five days with less then 6-hour sleep – brain is working like human didn’t sleep for 48 hours. This is why in army frequently happens breakage of expensive equipment.
Sleep deprivation is used as an interrogation technique (for example, in Pinochet-era Chile, the Soviet Union, or by the US on Guantanamo-held prisoners). Interrogation victims are kept awake for several days; when they are finally allowed to fall asleep, they are suddenly awakened and questioned. Menachem Begin, the Israeli prime minister from 1977-83 described his experience of sleep deprivation when a prisoner of the KGB in Russia as follows:
In the head of the interrogated prisoner, a haze begins to form. His spirit is wearied to death, his legs are unsteady, and he has one sole desire: to sleep…Anyone who has experienced this desire knows that not even hunger and thirst are comparable with it.
So, how long do we have to sleep? There is no "magic number". Not only do different age groups need different amounts of sleep, but sleep needs are also individual. Just like any other characteristics you are born with, the amount of sleep you need to function best may be different for you than for someone who is of the same age and gender. While you may be at your absolute best sleeping seven hours a night, someone else may clearly need nine hours to have a happy, productive life.
Main specialists’ advice is to make sleep a priority.
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