Ranny Gardner, a 17-year-old young man, decided to participate in a crazy experiment to set a world record for the longest time without sleep. After several days of staying awake, he began to feel dizzy, nauseous, and experienced life-threatening symptoms. However, he persisted in completing the challenge until the 11th day.
1. World Record:
In a video, you are also introduced to a classic sleep deprivation experiment by a Russian individual. Let's hold our breath and watch the entire 11-day sleep deprivation challenge, a Guinness World Record.
The Guinness World Records book is an annual reference book that records recognized world records, including records related to sleep deprivation. This record was first established in 1959 by American DJ Randy Gardner, when he stayed awake for 225 hours straight, equivalent to 9 days and 9 nights.
Randy Gardner, a young student in San Diego, was determined to break this record. He stayed awake for 260 consecutive hours, but ultimately suffered serious health consequences.
Despite warnings, Ranny Gardner still decided to participate in the experiment, supervised by two friends. This experiment attracted nationwide attention in the United States and became hot news in the media. Ranny Gardner began his experiment on December 28, 1963, and encountered many health issues since then.
Feeling like his mind was floating, Ranny Gardner struggled with quick thinking and accurate reasoning from the third day of the experiment onwards. He began to experience blurred vision, thus becoming more reliant on his senses to handle situations around him.
After 3 days of the experiment, research experts from Stanford University joined to support Randy Gardner in analyzing the effects of sleep deprivation on the body's physiological functions. Randy was required to perform a series of tests related to cognition, sensory perception, and reflexes, including participating in physical activities like basketball and volleyball.
Gardner began to face serious issues from the fourth day onwards, feeling exhausted and haunted by hallucinations. He started experiencing severe hallucinations from the fifth day, seeing walls disappear and feeling like he was floating in space. However, the group continued the experiment, with the support of two friends to keep him alert as needed.
On the final nights of the challenge, Ranny Gardner's mood began to change, he experienced memory loss, slurred speech, and became more delusional. He was almost exhausted and unable to perform coordinated physical activities. Finally, after 11 days and 25 minutes, equivalent to 264 hours of sleep deprivation, Randy Gardner completed the challenge and set the record for the longest time without sleep in the world.
2. The Sleepless Man:
After that horrifying experiment, Gardner seemed to be reborn, and the first thing he did after completing the challenge was to sleep. He slept continuously for 14 hours and 46 minutes in the hospital, and then returned to his normal sleep routine.
Ranny Gardner's mindset underwent a permanent change when brain scans showed that Gardner had microsleeps during the period, meaning parts of his brain slept while others remained awake. This helped him not commit suicide during the experiment, and this is an important benefit in human evolution.
In the early 2000s, sleep deprivation began to become more common. People often sleep only about 5 to 6 hours per night, then wake up after 15 minutes feeling uncomfortable and irritable. Like Gardner, they realized that sleep deprivation had significant consequences for their health.
After Gardner's experiment, some people tried to break his record, but no case has been recognized since 1997 due to potential health risks. Some researchers recalled an experiment in the late 1940s in Russia, where five political prisoners stayed awake for 15 days. When the experiment ended, what the soldiers saw seemed to surpass their imagination, with four still alive and one committing suicide.
However, this story has not been verified, and the Russian sleep deprivation experiment remains a legend. The conclusion of the story is that severe sleep deprivation can destroy the human brain and turn them into uncontrollable creatures. Therefore, the question arises whether humans can die from lack of sleep.
After Gardner's experiment, the issue of sleep became more concerning with many questions raised about our endurance limits. This helps people have a better understanding of the role of sleep in physical and mental health. Sleep allows the body to recover after a day's work, provides new energy, and improves memory and learning. Therefore, sleep deprivation seriously affects the functioning of both our brain and body.
If you stay awake all night, you will experience symptoms such as discomfort, reduced mental flexibility, irritability, and forgetfulness. If the habit of staying up at night continues, your brain will lose control over language, memory, perception, and emotions in reality. Staying awake for 17 hours can impair brain function, similar to the effects of having 0.05% alcohol in your blood, equivalent to just two drinks.
3. Sleep Deprivation:
Sleep deprivation can also lead to nighttime breathing pauses, causing stress and increased blood pressure during the day. For those concerned about weight and wanting to lose weight, sleep deprivation is also their enemy. Sleep deprivation can increase the risk of weight gain due to chemicals and stimulants produced during sleep, and sleep-deprived individuals often struggle to respond quickly and make rational decisions.
Therefore, sleep deprivation has caused many serious accidents worldwide, such as the Chernobyl nuclear disaster, the Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska, and the Challenger space shuttle accident. However, to this day, there is still no exact answer to how many days a person can stay awake without endangering their life.
Because if the experiment continues, someone will surely have to leave Earth. Hopefully, through this video, you have realized the importance of sleep. And folks, don't harm your health, don't skip sleep. Instead of staying up at night and hitting the dislike button, join the game, but don't forget sleep, because if you skip it, you may never have the chance to regain it.
The 11-day (equivalent to 264 hours) sleep deprivation experiment by an American has been one of the shocking events that attracted the attention of many people worldwide. This is not just a personal challenge, but also a scientific event, raising profound questions about the impact of sleep (or lack thereof) on human health and mind.
Ranny Gardner, a young student in San Diego, California, decided to participate in this experiment with the desire to break the world record for continuous sleep deprivation. In this experiment, he stayed awake for 11 consecutive days without any sleep. This is not only a test of willpower and perseverance but also an opportunity to understand more about the mechanisms of the human brain and body under extreme sleep deprivation conditions.
4. Experiment Duration:
Throughout the experiment, Gardner had to face a series of negative effects of sleep deprivation. Dizziness, lack of concentration, and decreased body resistance gradually appeared. Many were surprised by Gardner's determination and patience as he continued to overcome the challenges posed by sleep deprivation.
But Gardner was not alone in this journey. His two friends, B. Mar Alit and Jo Mariano, accompanied and supervised his experiment. This not only ensured safety but also allowed researchers to collect data and observe the body and mind's expressions during prolonged sleep deprivation.
An important part of this experiment was the support from research experts who participated in analyzing the effects of sleep deprivation on the body. From cognitive responses, reflexes, to changes in brain activity, everything was carefully monitored and evaluated.
In addition to the direct effects on health and mind, this experiment also raises many new questions and challenges. This could be seen as a breakthrough in understanding more about sleep and its importance for human health. Scientists and researchers worldwide are exploring new aspects of sleep and finding effective and sustainable solutions to the problem of sleep deprivation.
This experiment has also attracted the attention of the public and media, opening up conversations and debates about sleep and the importance of maintaining a healthy sleep routine. The lessons learned from this experiment are not only scientific knowledge but also profound lessons about willpower, resilience, and the importance of self-care.