YouTuber stays awake for nearly 250 hours. The impact of sleep deprivation on the body

Aug. 13, 2024, 2:06 p.m.

Read time estimation: 5 minutes.

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Human beings require sleep for survival.

But, a YouTuber recently tried to beat the world record for staying awake.

Content creator Norme, who has 1.2 million followers on the platform, streamed live on YouTube for more than 250 hours.

The Irish-Australian YouTuber's broadcast quickly gained popularity as many people tuned in to watch him stay awake.

However, the situation changed when Norme began showing significant signs of sleep deprivation.

Here's a look at what happens to your body when you don't get enough sleep.

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Throughout the live stream on YouTube, Norme's brother Don had been helping him stay alert.

He splashed water on him and made him stand up when he grew weary, according to News18.

However, Norme soon started displaying serious signs of sleep deprivation, such as passing out, hallucinating, and becoming incoherent.

The content creator was over 250 hours into his “no sleep” challenge when YouTube removed his Awake for 12 Days WORLD RECORD stream just 12 hours before he was supposed to reach his goal.

Later, he posted a screenshot displaying the notification he received from YouTube about the removal of his live stream.

I was suspended from YouTube 💔

literally 12 hours from the goal istg crying rn pic.twitter.com/qqObVGbI7R

— NORME (@NormeNorme) August 11, 2024 The message read, “It looks like Awake for 12 days WORLD RECORD LIVE 24/7 didn’t follow Community Guidelines. To help keep our community safe, we removed it from YouTube. We think your content didn’t follow our harmful and dangerous policy."

Notably, the Guinness Book of World Records doesn’t track no-sleep records, as there are some serious health risks and complications.

YouTube banning the stream didn’t deter Norme from continuing his “world record” attempt on Kick.

Robert McDonald established the record that Norme is striving to beat in 1986, according to News18. He achieved 18 days, 21 hours, and 40 minutes without sleep, as recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records.

Advertisement Lack of sleep

Sleep is crucial for the human body to repair itself and perform vital biological functions.

Adults typically require around seven to eight hours of sleep each night.

Sleep deprivation refers to a state where you receive either insufficient or no sleep at all.

While occasional sleeplessness is generally not a cause for worry, chronic or habitual sleep deprivation can lead to significant health issues such as inflammation, a weakened immune system, and diminished cognitive function, as stated by Healthline.

Phases of sleep deficiency

Typically, sleep deprivation is categorized into five distinct stages. These stages are often separated into intervals of 12 or 24 hours. Generally, the longer you remain awake, the more pronounced the symptoms become.

Advertisement Staying awake for an entire day is comparable to having a blood alcohol content of 0.10 percent, according to Healthline, citing the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The consequences of an all-night vigil include fatigue, tremors, mental fogginess, drowsiness, irritability, anger, heightened stress susceptibility, decreased alertness, impaired focus, food cravings, puffy eyes, and dark circles under the eyes.

After 36 hours without sleep, symptoms intensify as different regions of the brain struggle to communicate effectively, impacting cognitive function. Symptoms such as memory impairment, behavioral changes, poor decision-making, slower reaction times, increased inflammation, appetite changes, and extreme exhaustion become prevalent.

Advertisement After 48 hours, extreme lack of sleep sets in, making it difficult to stay awake. People often experience brief periods of sleep and may encounter anxiety, depersonalization, hallucinations, delusions and disorganized thinking.

After four days, one’s perception of reality is severely distorted and urge for sleep becomes unbearable.

Remedies and recovery

Getting enough rest can aid in recovering from insufficient sleep.

The severity of sleep deficiency dictates the most effective solution.

Power naps, adopting good sleep habits, using over-the-counter or prescribed sleep medications, light therapy, breathing devices, and prescription sleep aids are all feasible solutions.

With contributions from agencies