How Long Can a Person Go Without Sleep: Guinness Records That Will Surprise 99% of People
For many decades, humanity has been studying sleep and everything connected with it.
During this time, the path has been traveled from myths about the “flight of the soul” to serious scientific work by somnologists and the creation of an entire commercial industry designed to make sleep as comfortable as possible.
It is believed that you need to sleep every day and at least 6-8 hours. Recommendations are different for everyone. For some, 4 hours is enough, while for others, 10 is not enough.
Since about the middle of the 20th century, science has been trying to understand how long a person can stay awake. This is how the first records recorded in the Guinness Book appeared.
The first known experiment was officially conducted in 1959.
Peter Tripp did not sleep for 8 days and 9 hours, but the subject's psycho-emotional state changed greatly during this time, and he eventually interrupted the experiment.
The next record was set in 1964. Randy Gardner stayed awake for 11 days. That same year, Jim Thomas surpassed him - 11 days and 2 hours.
Bertha van der Merwe from South Africa did not sleep for 11 days, 18 hours and 55 minutes (1969).
Roger Guy English went without sleep for exactly 12 days (1974).
A year later, Maureen Weston from Britain showed a more impressive result - 18 days and 17 hours.
In 1986, American Robert McDonald slightly surpassed this achievement – 18 days, 21 hours and 40 minutes.
Since then, no sleep deprivation experiments have been conducted. In 1997, the Guinness Book of Records stopped recording new records, stating that sleep deprivation experiments were life-threatening.
Earlier, British doctors spoke about habits that shorten a person’s life by 10 years.
