We're back at it again, subjecting one of
our staff writers to your most pressing questions, and this time it's one that's been asked hundreds
of times: what happens when you don't sleep for a week? During our preliminary research we discovered
that the effects of complete sleep deprivation can be pretty severe, so instead of complete
no-sleep, we're letting our writer and guinea pig get three hours of sleep a day- well below
the recommended 8 hours of sleep a night every person should get. Ever wonder what lack of sleep does to the
body? According to the American Psychological Association
only 20 percent of adults get a good quality sleep each night. Yet in 1942 only 8% of people reported getting
only six or fewer hours of sleep a night, but by 2017 almost 50% of Americans are getting
less than 8 hours of sleep. Clearly we have a serious problem in our society,
but how badly is it affecting us? Day 1 10 AM: Today I start the no-sleep one week
challenge- or little sleep I suppose since no-sleep can be pretty dangerous, even outright
fatal. During my preparation for the challenge I
read about American and Soviet sleep deprivation interrogation techniques, where CIA and Soviet
Gulag prisoners would be sleep-deprived for days on end in order to break down a tough
prisoner's mental defenses and extract critical information. Apparently the brain can be so badly affected
however that information can be unreliable, or just completely made up, which kind of
begs the question of just how effective these techniques really are. I guess I'll find out. In order to test the effectiveness of CIA
and Soviet sleep-deprivation interrogation techniques I've struck a deal with my girlfriend-
I will hide her laptop somewhere and she has until day 7 to extract the location from me. Without the laptop she won't be able to watch
Netflix or mess with her Pinterest, and she hates doing work emails from her phone because
the screen is so small, so she has a huge incentive to try to get me to break. I guess we'll see if she can. 10 PM: Last night I had a full night's sleep
so I'm not feeling too rough. It's about 10 pm now and I'm tired, but I've
definitely done longer stints without sleep during my years in the military. Working on my laptop and girlfriend asked
if she could borrow it, but I told her that would violate the terms of our challenge. She rolled her eyes and started watching Netflix
on her phone. I'm not noticing any side effects so far,
but it is going to be tough to stay awake when nobody else is up. I downloaded a few PS 1 games to play through
the night and keep me busy though. Day 2 10 AM: Slept my three hours, then woke up
when girlfriend was getting ready to go to work. Waking up was pretty tough, but again nothing
I haven't experienced before. I'm not really hungry though and haven't eaten
yet, and I remember this as a symptom of not sleeping from my time in the military. We used to take adderall to power through
days and days of little sleep, it's basically an amphetamine and jolts your system awake
giving you a ton of energy, but the side effects are pretty terrible. This time there's no adderall to cheat with
but from what I've read the symptoms of no sleep can be just as bad. Guess we'll see. 10 PM: I wasn't that tired last night, but
this time I'm really tired. I brought in a patio chair to sit on because
I'm afraid if I sit on the couch or lay in bed for too long I'll fall asleep. In the military it was easier not to sleep,
you were active and had something to do, but with nothing to really do it's a lot harder. I took dog for a million walks today, and
will probably take him on at least two more tonight just to keep me active. Girlfriend asked me where the laptop was,
I didn't tell her. Not writing it here either in case she steals
my laptop while I'm not looking. I think watching youtube and Netflix on her
phone is getting to her more than my lack of sleep is getting to me. Research I read up on says that one of the
first effects of sleep deprivation is the inability to show positive emotion on the
face. Even happy people can't show it on their face
with a smile. I asked girlfriend if she felt I was being
that way and she said I laugh less and don't smile as much, but I seem normal- just really
tired. Research also said I'd crave junk food as
the body looks for sources of energy to keep itself going, that's definitely true. I drank one of those huge 16 ounce cokes a
little bit ago and will probably drink another later tonight to help me stay up. Sorry washboad abs- you’re going to have
to wait at least one more week. Day 3 10 AM: I woke up after three hours and it
literally felt like I had just gone to sleep a moment ago. I can't describe how tired I am. Not hungry at all. Going to try and keep busy today working on
other scripts to pass the time. 10 PM: Definitely an advantage to have something
to keep you physically active and alert like in the military, as opposed to just doing
nothing. Tried to keep occupied with video games but
the action is getting hard to track. Tried to work on scripts to pass the time
but just too hard to concentrate. Been zoning out a lot, missed an entire conversation
after girlfriend came home from work. Research says this is the brain trying to
force a rest period even with eyes open, you literally just check out mentally. It's called micro-sleeps and supposed to happen
less than 30 seconds. Pretty sure I micro-slept for full five minute
conversation. Girlfriend grilled me about her laptop. Didn't tell her. She'll never break me. Day 4 10 AM: I feel like I haven't eaten in a long
time but I'm not hungry. Girlfriend bought me bunch of nutrition bars
yesterday because I haven't been eating much regular food. She left them all over the house so there's
one always in reach. Sometimes I eat one and then forget I just
ate one and reach for one only to find the empty wrapper and I realize I just ate one. I think that last sentence makes sense, getting
hard to concentrate but trying hard. Girlfriend had to shake me awake when alarm
rang after three hours. She said she's concerned and thinks this is
stupid and she's not going to wake me up again so I have to set three alarms just to make
sure I wake up. 10 PM: I feel physically ill, like nauseous,
all the time. I walked the dog earlier and zoned out for
I don't know how long. Guess I micro-slept in the middle of the sidewalk. Definitely not smiling or laughing much. Also making a lot of spelling errors in this
document. Hard to concentrate. Research says lack of sleep increases stress
hormones because the brain can't rest and balance out your hormone levels, and I definitely
feel stressed. Girlfriend asked if I was ready to tell her
where laptop was. Didn't tell her. She said my job is dumb and I’m dumb and
she doesn’t need her stupid laptop anyways and went to sleep. Day 5 10 AM: Back in military days when used to
go with little sleep for days there was point you hit where you weren't really tired anymore
even though your body was exhausted. Like your brain tricking your body. I feel like that a lot now. Research says that your brain dumbs down when
you don't sleep. I have to agree. To test myself I tried to do a math quiz online
and did horrible. I don't even feel like trying to write today. 10 PM: Girlfriend asked for laptop a bunch. Didn't tell her. She said no sex then. Joke's on her, research says you lose sex
drive without sleep because your hormones are out of balance and lack of energy. It's a Mexican standoff but she's got no bullets
in her gun. I win. Day 6 10 AM: Today is Saturday but I forgot. Only remembered because girlfriend didn't
go to work today. Days sometimes blur together because I don't
have regular 9-5 job, but definitely affected by lack of sleep. Typically go somewhere on Saturdays, but no
energy to do anything. Really trying hard not to sleep. I played all of Final Fantasy VII this week
to keep busy. Great game but guess what, VI is better. You can suck it, internet, but VII is inferior
to VI. 10 PM: I'm pretty sure I fell asleep few times
today, but don't remember. Girlfriend insists I didn't, so either memory
is completely falling apart or I slept with eyes open. Research says that severe lack of sleep disrupts
brain's ability to form memories properly. Coupled with poor nutrition this can cause
serious memory problems, and definitely have not been eating right. Too much junk food, but I guess like research
said just the body trying to energize. Really hard to type these entries, keep making
a lot of mistakes and having to rewrite, plus sentences that don't make sense. I had to start setting alarms every thirty
minutes on my phone to make sure I didn't fall asleep accidentally. Girlfriend also tried to get location of laptop
from me, driving her nuts to not have it specially since its the weekend. She warned me that experiment ends in one
day but lack of sex could last much longer if I didn't tell her. Not even the CIA is as evil as she is, they
should put her in charge of interrogating terrorists. Day 7 1 PM: I don't know when I fell asleep last
night but I woke up ten minutes ago, definitely overslept the three hour limit. When I woke up girlfriend was on her laptop,
and when I asked her how she found it she just kept smiling and saying she got me. I honestly don't remember telling her but
no way she found it on her own. I'm not convinced she didn't borrow a laptop
that looks just like hers so I would do my entry and write here where I hid her real
laptop after I fall back asleep. Research says that's paranoia, lack of rest
rewires the brain and makes the irrational seem rational. Screwed up with the sleep but going to try
to stay up anyways. 10 PM: I feel like I could stay up more, but
I'm not going to. All day I've been spacing out. Really hard to concentrate on writing entries,
but not as irrational or hard as I thought it would be at the start. Keep reading and re-reading sentences and
hoping they make sense though. Been seeing things the last two days, like
shadows moving in corner of the eye. Research says extreme lack of sleep leads
to hallucinations, and I agree. Will be sitting by myself and suddenly think
I saw figure moving at edge of vision. Knees also been giving out on me and almost
fell twice today from absolute exhaustion. I think maybe I accidentally told girlfriend
where laptop was but forgot I did that. Research says that can happen with prisoners,
they give up info and have no memory of it. Or they make up false info because their brains
are scrambled. But maybe she just borrowed laptop still trying
to make me think I gave up the location just so I'll say or write down where the real one
is. She did show me our pictures on it though
and her log-in. That's pretty convincing but I thought what
if she just downloaded the pics and set it all up. That's definitely paranoia, so I think I'm
going to officially call it here. Dear internet, a week without sleep makes
you grumpy, paranoid, makes you want junk food but not normal food, kills your sex drive,
makes you fall asleep with eyes open, and annoys your girlfriend. So don't do it. And Final Fantasy VI is still better than
VII. Now, go watch our other video: Spend $1 Billion
Dollars In 24 Hours or LOSE IT ALL - CHALLENGE. Bye
