The big test is tomorrow, and you’ve just cracked open the book to start studying. Unfortunately, all that procrastination has caught up with you: it’s time for an all-nighter. As the night drags on, your mood swings from cheerful to irritable and back again. Staying focused becomes nearly impossible, and you’ve only been awake a few hours past your usual bedtime. As you struggle to keep your eyes open, you can’t help but wonder: How much longer can I endure this? If I hold off sleep long enough, will I lose my mind?
Despite some urban legends suggesting otherwise, the answer is no.
The belief that sleep deprivation leads to psychiatric issues originated from the discovery of rapid eye movement (REM) sleep over 50 years ago. Dr. Mark Mahowald, director of the Minnesota Regional Sleep Disorders Center, explains that researchers found some individuals began to “hallucinate” when awakened from REM sleep. However, scientists quickly realized these individuals weren’t hallucinating—they were simply dreaming.
“Dreaming actually occurs during wakefulness,” Mahowald notes.
A well-known case is Randy Gardner, who, at 17 years old in 1964, stayed awake for 264 hours (11 days) straight. While he did have some dreamlike experiences, he managed to get through the week and a half without any mental health issues.
Another challenge in connecting sleeplessness to insanity is that without monitoring brain activity, it’s impossible to confirm if someone has truly been awake for long stretches. When people are sleep-deprived, they often experience brief moments of sleep called microsleep. So even if someone claims to have stayed awake for days, they might have actually caught small snippets of sleep. These short “naps” can be extremely hazardous, especially during activities like driving, as the person usually doesn’t realize they’re zoning out.
While going without sleep doesn’t directly cause a psychotic episode while awake, it can lead to issues once that person finally gets some rest.
Mahowald works as a consultant for Sleep Forensics Associates (SFA), a team focused on exploring how sleep disorders impact criminal and civil cases. Many of these situations involve individuals claiming they were not in control of their actions, such as in cases of rape and murder, due to conditions like sexsomnia (engaging in sexual acts while asleep) or sleepwalking. Mahowald notes that lack of sleep can trigger episodes of sleepwalking.
Although sleep-deprived individuals still exhibit normal brain activity, sleepwalkers only have parts of their brains awake. “Sleepwalkers can perform remarkably complex actions, but they might not be conscious or accountable for their behavior,” explains Dr. Michel Cramer Bornemann, the lead investigator at SFA. He points out that sleepwalking is challenging to define legally—it doesn’t meet the criteria for insanity since it’s not classified as a mental disorder. “Approximately 5 percent of adults experience sleepwalking,” he adds. “This suggests that 5 percent of the population could be considered temporarily insane.”
While the chance of committing a serious act in your sleep is very low, it’s important to remember that sleep deprivation doesn’t equate to insanity, but that doesn’t mean you should regularly skip sleep. “Many negative consequences arise from not getting enough rest,” warns Michael Twery, Director of the National Center on Sleep Disorders Research in Bethesda, Maryland. Insufficient sleep can lead to issues like poor focus, memory problems, fatigue, and emotional instability, along with some chronic health conditions.
The takeaway: You might not be on the brink of insanity, but make sure to get some sleep—here are some sheep to help you drift off if needed.