Who needs sleep?

[Piratecat]

I haven't really slept beyond a half hour to hour nap here and there for the last two weeks. Strangely coherent still...just too much stress to really sleep, and I don't like sleeping because I don't like my dreams. Its easier to just rest when I need it than sleep for long periods of time.

Ironically enough, your dreams will tend to be odder and more vivid if you're doing this. Be aware that you're almost certainly doing yourself some mental and physical harm that will make it more difficult to deal with stress. Even worse, you're putting yourself at extreme risk of falling asleep behind the wheel.

I'd recommend switching to two 1.5-2 hour sleeping periods, spaced 12 hours apart. Many people can keep functioning on this level of sleep for an extended time, albeit with tiredness. It's what we recommend to people doing emergency rescue work.

 

[devilish]

I read about some new drug recently to help with
narcolepsy -- on "regular" people, it would allow them to
stay awake indefinitely without any side effects that
caffeine/current drugs would. The only issue, they
mentioned, was that, while you could go indefinitely
on it without feeling it, you *have* to go to natural
sleep after 3-4 days to clear up waste/rejuvenate/etc.

Hear of this, piratecat?

Somedays I wish I could shrug off my 9-hour sleep cycle and
go with 4 hrs. So much could be had if my days were longer....

-D

 

[Krieg]

Two weird things happened. One time early in the morning after my paper route, I started to study. I had a wierd little occuring dream about I beams in a circle in a building. Anyway after I gave up trying to study I noticed that I had bordered most of my notes and outlines in 3-D cubes and cylinders. I don't remember doing this at all

When I was in bootcamp I would nod off while taking notes. When I would look at the notes later I would just see row after row of squiggly lines...even though I was asleep my body would continue to go through the motions of writing.

On a similar note when I was in my MOS school I would drift off while the instructor was giving lectures. She would eventually get annoyed and tell me to stand up and repeat what she had been teaching...she would get even more irate when I would rattle off what she had been lecturing about. Even while asleep part of me was still listening and I would actually dream what she was talking about.

 

[Samothdm]

When I was in bootcamp I would nod off while taking notes. When I would look at the notes later I would just see row after row of squiggly lines...even though I was asleep my body would continue to go through the motions of writing.

I did this all the time in college (not on purpose) but before the squiggly lines started, there would be a few random nonsense words that were actually related to whatever I started thinking as I dozed off.

So, you'd see my chemistry notes with a line about how to create the scientific notation or whatever, and in mid-sentence it would change from "the elements of carbon and hydrogen [insert sloppy writing] she's red can't [insert squiggly lines]..." and then the writing would start going downhill (meaning that the lines weren't straight any more).

I still have my notes - they're funny to look at.

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

Ironically enough, your dreams will tend to be odder and more vivid if you're doing this. Be aware that you're almost certainly doing yourself some mental and physical harm that will make it more difficult to deal with stress. Even worse, you're putting yourself at extreme risk of falling asleep behind the wheel.

I'd recommend switching to two 1.5-2 hour sleeping periods, spaced 12 hours apart. Many people can keep functioning on this level of sleep for an extended time, albeit with tiredness. It's what we recommend to people doing emergency rescue work.

...seeing that you most definitely know what you're talking about, I guess I should listen. At least there's ONE good thing about it, though. I don't have a vehicle so I can't drive.

 

[Negative Zero]

Barenaked Ladies
Who Needs Sleep?

Now I lay me down not to sleep
I just get tangled in the sheets
I swim in sweat three inches deep
I just lay back and claim defeat

Chapter read and lesson learned
I turned the lights off while she burned
So while she's three hundred degrees
I throw the sheets off and I freeze

Lids down, I count sheep
I count heartbeats
The only thing that counts is
that I won't sleep
I countdown, I look around

Who needs sleep?
well you're never gonna get it
Who needs sleep?
tell me what's that for
Who needs sleep?
be happy with what you're getting
There's a guy who's been awake
since the Second World War

My hands are locked up tight in fists
My mind is racing, filled with lists
of things to do and things I've done
Another sleepless night's begun

Lids down, I count sheep
I count heartbeats
The only thing that counts is
that I won't sleep
I countdown, I look around

Who needs sleep?
well you're never gonna get it
Who needs sleep?
Tell me what's that for
Who needs sleep?
be happy with what you're getting
There's a guy who's been awake
since the Second World War

Who needs sleep?
well you're never gonna get it
Who needs sleep?
tell me what's that for
Who needs sleep?
be happy with what you're getting
There's a guy who's been awake
since the Second World War

There's so much joy in life,
so many pleasures all around
But the pleasure of insomnia
is one I've never found
With all life has to offer,
there's so much to be enjoyed
But the pleasures of insomnia
are ones I can't avoid

Lids down, I count sheep
I count heartbeats
The only thing that counts is
that I won't sleep
I countdown, I look around

Hala Hala Hala

Who needs sleep?
well you're never gonna get it
Who needs sleep?
tell me what's that for
Who needs sleep?
be happy with what you're getting
There's a guy who's been awake
since the Second World War

[Repeat]

mmmmm i love that song ... actually, that whole album is awesome. when i was about 19 or 20, i once went for about 96 hours on 3 hours sleep ... carnival in the Caribbean man, gotta love it. non stop parties and street festivals ~NegZ

 

[Queen_Dopplepopolis]

mmmmm i love that song ... actually, that whole album is awesome. when i was about 19 or 20, i once went for about 96 hours on 3 hours sleep ... carnival in the Caribbean man, gotta love it. non stop parties and street festivals ~NegZ

When naming this thread, I was singing that song. Indeed, one of my faves.

 

[Panthanas]

I've gone about 36 hours without sleep twice. I didn't really have a reason the first time, and eventually became bored so I went to sleep. The second time I was out gaming all night and then left for Six Flags: Great Adventure the next morning. I can't sleep in a car so I stayed awake until we arrived. It was...interesting...riding on roller coasters while being sleep deprived.

On more occasions than I can remember I've stayed awake about 26-28 hours while gaming all night. I did notice that my mental and physical reaction times were impaired at that stage. No hallucinations or anything like that though.