Sleep record - common name all abnormal states of people in which they lived during a certain period of human history. Usually this is an officially registered, or scientifically documented, attempt to deceive human body. Deprive him of the right to proper rest or force him to exceed the norms of time of reduced activity allotted by nature.
It is customary to register such achievements in today's society in the Guinness Book of Records, a list of people who have exceeded the capabilities of ordinary people, known throughout the civilized world. human body. To get on this register, many people engaged in long-term training or direct abuse of their own bodies.
Excruciating time spent without sleep
The desire to become famous or to get on the list of record holders has led to accidents or successes, maimed and killed people, or given them the opportunity to taste the sweet taste of momentary fame. But even the Book of Records refused to register the time spent without sleep by Briton Tony Wright as a victory, because it considered it extremely dangerous for his health. The decision was made even before the savage self-experiment undertaken by Wright, after Rand Gardner became the official record holder for this.
Today, the three record holders who deliberately set themselves a similar experience are as follows:
- The undisputed leader is Tony Wright, a Briton from Cornwall (2007), who was no longer lucky enough to become a registered Guinness World Record holder. Since it was decided not to record such achievements as threatening human health.
- The silver medalist, whose record was still included in the famous Book, and nominally remained unsurpassed in it, was Rand Gardner, from San Diego, California (1965).
- The original Guinness World Record for sleep holder, Honolulu resident Tom Rounds, turned out to be an unofficial bronze medalist but a documented silver medalist.
The record for sleep, which a person could do without and not only did not die, but was not particularly injured, does not belong to Tom Rounds, who spent 260 hours awake. And not Rand Gardner, who beat his predecessor by 4 hours and 22 minutes. And not at all Tony Wright, who did not sleep for 275 hours.
The world record was set by champion Robert MacDonald, who lasted 453 hours without a break for sleep, and this phenomenon was recognized as an individual feature of his psyche.
Rand Gardner's experiment was carried out under the supervision of his friends, who acted as a distraction and at the same time recorded his condition. They were joined by William K. Dement, who flew in from Stanford especially for this purpose, because the experiment being carried out interested him to the extreme. While Gardner's friends considered his condition normal, Dement noted certain psychical deviations and hallucinations, memory impairment and sharply decreased mental capabilities.
The result of this dubious achievement was a ban on such bullying of oneself, and the refusal of the authors of the Book of Records to include such figures in their list of human achievements.
Human sleep was initially provided by nature as a period of necessary rest for the full restoration of the body’s potential. A long period without natural rest, it negatively affects the psyche and leads to various disorders.
People who became record holders in this and were able to overcome a long period without sleep and without any significant losses to their condition mental health, have certain characteristics. This is evidenced even by the persistent desire to deprive oneself of the rest that everyone needs. to a normal person to surprise the world.
In this case, it is customary to recall the well-known 7 records, but they are of the nature of mixed information and are divided into two subgroups:
- The first one has already entered famous Tom Rounds, Rand Gardner, and Peter Tripp. Moreover, the latter is a disc jockey who raised money for medical research during the marathon (201 hours without sleep). Secondly, people who needed uncharacteristically short sleep throughout the day, and this was the norm for them:
- Former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher slept no more than 4 hours a day, and felt great about it.
- Unidentified woman who passed medical research at 70 years old and stated that she daily norm Sleep throughout life is also 4 hours.
- Georges Mazuy from Belgium sleeps for 2 hours for a long period of his life, and his brain still works productively.
- Farmer Jones's insomnia continues with attacks, the first of which lasted 3 months, with and without sleep, the man feels normal.
The famous traveler Fyodor Konyukhov slept from 3 to 3.5 hours during his circumnavigation, but every 2 hours he had a 15-minute sleep break. The remaining participants in the experiment could not exceed his achievement, which once again confirms that the reason successful experiment become individual characteristics body.
The achievements of the Russian traveler in 2014, 2015 and 2016 were also made possible thanks to a 4-hour sleep duration.
For Goethe, Schiller, Napoleon, Churchill, Bekhterev, 4 hours was the norm, and at the same time they maintained clarity and speed of thought, active life and excellent mood. But sleep deprivation for a long time was considered one of the effective tortures, which was also applied to Dmitry Karakozov, who attempted to kill Alexander P. Eyewitnesses of the execution say that his arms and legs were hanging, his head was dangling when he was taken to the gallows, and this sight was unbearable.
Record for staying in a coma
The longest stay in a coma was recorded on the Swede, Caroline Olson, and the reason for such a long rest was not laziness. The girl fell into a coma after hitting her head, and all attempts to wake her were doomed to failure. At first she was fed through a tube by her mother, who was replaced by a neighbor after her death. The negative effects of the injury lasted for 42 years and 42 days, and after it Caroline looked like the age at which the accident happened to her. After that, she lived in good health for another 32 years.
Lack of proper sleep on the standard human body can lead to numerous negative consequences. This should be taken into account by those who are trying to conduct various experiments on themselves or who are chronically sleep-deprived due to being so busy.
A normal person pays for the hours of rest taken away from him nervous pathologies, disruption of natural hormonal levels, diseases of cardio-vascular system and irreversible damage to neural connections in the cerebral cortex. This means future problems with memory and performance, a decrease in intellectual level and serious problems in old age.
Long sleep is a real mystery for people. Despite extensive and lengthy research, scientists cannot uncover the mystery of lethargy or long sleep. Science does not know the exact reasons for this condition. Therefore, no one can answer the question of why a person suddenly falls asleep for a long time.
We spend a significant part of our lives sleeping. But there are unique cases in history when people slept for several decades in a row. Let's list the “sleepy records” of the planet.
Most long sleep in the world was noted by Nadezhda Lebedina from the Dnepropetrovsk region. After a family quarrel that happened in 1954, the 34-year-old woman was in shock. She lay down to rest and fell asleep... for 20 years! Experts recognized lethargy. During long sleep Nadezhda’s husband died, and her daughter ended up in a shelter. The sleeping woman was looked after by her mother. In 1974, immediately after the death of her mother, Nadezhda woke up. According to eyewitnesses, when she opened her eyes, the first thing she asked was: “Is mom dead?” The woman later explained that during her sleep she heard and understood what was happening around her body, but she could not give a sign to those around her or wake up.
The longest sleep in the world happened to Augustine Leggard from Norway. She fell asleep after giving birth. Augustine's dream was unusual. The woman independently opened her mouth when eating. However, she was able to wake up only after 22 years. When Augustine's sleep left her, she asked to bring her a child to feed. But by this time her daughter had long grown up. Augustine herself has remained virtually unchanged, since slowing down the aging process is one of the features of lethargic sleep. Waking up, the woman quickly grew old and died.
As the famous scientist Pavlov claimed, he once studied the health characteristics of a man who had slept for 20 years. After lethargy, this man gradually began to lead an ordinary life. He explained that during the period of sleep he understood and heard everything, but felt incredible heaviness and weakness in his body. Amazing severe weakness did not give him the opportunity to shake off the sleep and get up.
Longest sleep in the world happened to 19-year-old Anna Swanpool (South Africa). The girl went into shock after the tragic news of the death of her lover. Then she fell asleep for 31 years! The doctors abandoned such a patient, but Anna’s relatives did not lose hope of awakening. After 31 years, she opened her eyes. At that time she was already 50 years old. The woman did not remember anything, but could talk.
Experts say that lethargy affects human development if it occurs in early age. In France, lethargic sleep occurred in a 4-year-old girl. After a severe fright, she lost consciousness and fell asleep. The girl lived in this condition for 18 years, during which doctors took care of her. When she woke up, the girl immediately asked for toys. Her development remained at the level of a preschool child.
In Colorado, in 2007, Greta Stargle woke up. She became lethargic after a car accident as a little girl. During her 17-year-old sleep, she turned into a girl. After waking up, her mind remained as clear as small child. Despite this, the girl has high mental abilities and successfully absorbs huge amounts of information.
Interesting fact: during lethargic sleep, people practically do not change with age. But after awakening, they quickly “catch up” on lost time, aging in 2-3 years. It happens that long sleep occurs regularly in the same person. For example, one priest in England periodically slept for 6 days in a row. By Sunday he usually woke up to organize a prayer service.
Possible causes of long sleep
Experts suggest that lethargy can occur after severe stress, as a protective reaction of the body. The second version is mental disorder. Therefore, some doctors talk about hysterical lethargy, the occurrence of which is associated with pathologies in the human mental sphere.
It is noted that most often lethargic sleep overtakes those who are prone to overly violent and dramatic reactions to events. In this case, doctors consider lethargy as a form hysterical neurosis. There is another version about the reason for the longest sleep in the world. This is the viral nature of lethargy. This hypothesis arose after the lethargic sleep epidemic that occurred in 1916-1927. Europe fell asleep for a long time at that time great amount of people. Many victims of lethargy died in their sleep. This was a jump in time-localized and mass sleep. To somehow explain this phenomenon, scientists put forward a version of a mysterious virus.
What are the signs of lethargic sleep?
During abnormally long sleep, a person's sleep program is disrupted. Doctors say lethargy can be mild or severe. Mild degree has all the signs of deep sleep. In this state, a person looks the same as during healthy sleep. All his muscles are relaxed, his pulse is palpable, his eyelids tremble slightly, and his breathing is stable and slow.
It is much worse if a person falls into severe lethargy. This is very deep dream, which can easily be confused with fatal. A person's breathing may slow down so much that it is difficult to notice. It is also difficult to detect the pulse. You can determine whether a person is alive or not using pain or electric current. The most reliable way to determine this is to examine the body for cadaveric spots.
Lethargy has been known since ancient times. From time immemorial people have been afraid to fall asleep lethargic sleep, since in this case there is a danger of being buried alive. There are many similar examples in history.
Let us list the known cases of the longest sleep in the world. The famous poet Francesca Petrarca (XIV century, Italy) suffered from a serious illness at the age of 40. Those around him believed that he had already died and prepared for the funeral. The poet woke up near his grave, declaring that he felt great and was not yet going to another world. After this incident he lived for another thirty years.
It is very interesting that during the transfer of ancient Jewish cemeteries, during which all coffins are checked, it was discovered that more than ¼ of the buried people came to life. This is evidenced by the position of the bodies and the traces, which clearly indicate that the “dead men” tried unsuccessfully to get out of the coffins.
A striking historical example is Nikolai Gogol. The writer was always afraid that he would be buried alive. And his fears came true. One day, after depression, he fell ill and fell into a long sleep, which was taken for death. When the exhumation took place in 1931, it turned out that the material in his coffin was torn and his skull was turned to the side.
In England in the 60s of the last century, a special apparatus was designed that was capable of detecting even slight activity of the human heart. At the very first use of this device in practice in the morgue, among the dead, a living person was discovered. Based on such creepy stories we can conclude that longest sleep in the world- that's pretty dangerous condition. The life of a sleeping person largely depends on the adequacy of the people around him.
The participants' beds are located around the perimeter of the stadium. 24 participants representing 24 countries. Instead of the usual anthems, national lullabies were heard over the stands, to which the participants fell asleep, standing next to their beds and holding their hands on their hearts. It should be noted that a good half of the stadium snored in unison to the Ukrainian lullaby performed by Alexander Ponomarev. And the performer himself worked so hard that he almost fell asleep in fifth place.
The lullabies played and the stadium burst into joyful snoring. The judges took their positions and announced a five-minute readiness. The participants began to warm up more actively - yawning, blinking more slowly... Their eyes, swollen from intense training, now attracted the gaze of millions, dare I say it, onlookers.
This is not surprising - after all, the World Sports Sleep Championship began today. The first was sprint sleep. Last championship The world was opened by marathon sleep, but he was excluded from the competition because one of the participants fell asleep for a year and a half. The essence of today's competition, I remind you, is to be the first to fall asleep and be the first to touch your bed with your back. Of course, we will root for our compatriot Taras Kuzmenko, who is located on bed 9. Sprint sleep is very traumatic because athletes fall asleep while sitting. At one competition, Augbungu Ongwene from Nigeria took the wrong position and when he fell, due to his very tall height, he hit his head on the bed frame. Another athlete, Jorge Ramos from Spain, on the contrary, fell asleep, fell forward and pulled his back muscles.
Today the opponents are certainly strong, but we believe in Taras. He has already defeated many of them. And at a recent press conference he said... no, he didn’t have time to say it because he fell asleep.
So, pay attention! The judge raises his hand. Get ready!.. False start! On bed 8 the Japanese representative hurried to fall asleep. They are trying to wake him up, but it is useless. Takashi Nakamura usually falls asleep, as they say, “tightly.” Well, the competition will continue without him. The Japanese delegation in the stands falls asleep nervously and upset.
Everything is ready again. The judge gives the start and!.. In this sport it is simply impossible to do without a photo finish, because it is very difficult to determine by eye who fell asleep first. Attention! The stadium announcer announces... announces that... Yes! Taras Kuzmenko is a world champion! Hurray comrades! I congratulate you all. Coach lifts right eyelid Taras screams in his ear about victory and a slight smile appears on the athlete’s sleepy face. Well, I congratulate you, dear compatriots. Congratulations to Taras on his first gold at this World Championship. An interview with the winner awaits you ahead, if, of course, he can be woken up today, and I say goodbye to you. Until next time.
