15 Gnarly Things That Happen To Your Body When You Die Of Sleep Deprivation

Don't worry, you can go ahead and finish that cup of coffee. There are only a few documented cases of people dying from lack of sleep. In 2014, a Chinese man in the city of Suzhou tried to stay up to watch the FIFA World Cup in one, long marathon TV session. This meant he was awake for at least 11 days, and that was enough to kill him. When he was brought into the hospital (in one of the first recorded cases of that type), doctors concluded his death was, in fact, brought about through sleep deprivation.

Shockingly enough, this isn't the first time soccer has caused someone to stay awake until their death. During Euro 2012, another Chinese man stayed up to watch the whole thing in one sitting. After 11 days, Jiang Xiaoshan also succumbed to death from exhaustion, suggesting that, even if you love soccer, you probably shouldn't watch it nonstop for over a week.

The fact of the matter is the average human probably wouldn't be able to keep themselves awake long enough to die from lack of sleep. To actually die this way takes either a lot of commitment (to soccer apparently) or a preexisting medical condition. Because human bodies are built to, you know, stay alive, they have failsafes that will force you to get some sleep. In other words, your body literally won't let you stay awake long enough to die from sleep deprivation.

That being said, there are some medical conditions that can keep you awake or keep you from getting sleep long enough to cause you harm. One such condition is fatal familial insomnia (FFI), a genetic disorder in which you have serious issues sleeping for months, and your body eventually wears out. The best-known case is that of Michael Corke, a man who died after six months of regular sleep deprivation brought on by FFI. So, if you have a condition like that, death from lack of sleep is far more likely.

You may be wondering how soon you'll start noticing the negative impacts of sleep deprivation. Shockingly, the consequences of a lack of sleep start to manifest right away! In fact, you may notice the very first symptoms starting to slip in after only 24 hours of sleeplessness.  

The body needs regular sleep – as in every night – so after one missed night, your body will experience slight hormonal changes. For example, your levels of cortisol and thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) will begin to rise as a response to a lack of rest, which leads to everything from increased blood pressure to carb cravings and a weakened immune system.

As your body goes through the hormonal changes related to sleep deprivation, your blood pressure will also gradually begin to rise. This causes more than a few problems with your mind and body. While it may cause no issues at all, sometimes high blood pressure can lead to dizziness and headache, which explains why people who don't sleep well often complain of migraines and nausea. Your face may also become flushed, and your vision may be clouded or unfocused. This vision problem can also cause headaches and dizziness in and of itself, so you should expect to feel some head pain when you don't get rest. 

And while the exhaustion you feel might seem like a no brainer (you didn't sleep, so DUH), increased blood pressure can make even simple tasks feel exhausting.

It probably makes sense that there are emotional consequences to sleep deprivation, but these affective effects are likely more intense than you think. Your positive emotions are actually the first to go when you don't get enough sleep. Not only will you feel sadder or even depressed more often, but you'll also have problems expressing happiness when you do feel it.

Doctors have discovered that when people become sleep-deprived, they lose the ability to show positive emotion on their faces. So, even if you say you're happy and try to smile to demonstrate it, if you haven't slept, you may still show a neutral face. That, or you might appear falsely happy, showing a pained grimace-y thing instead of a genuine smile. On top of that, you may not even be able to recognize a smile from another person. To a sleep-deprived mind, a positive expression can appear neutral or even negative. There's a reason sleep deprivation has been used as a form of torture.

In a sort of a self-fulfilling prophecy, your inability to show joy on your face can quickly turn into emotional problems and mood swings. In fact, your mood and your ability to sleep both use the same neurotransmitters. As a result, it's very difficult for even a professional to tell the difference between sleep loss and actual depression. Because the chemical changes in the brain brought on by lack of sleep are the same as those associated with more significant mental issues, you may show symptoms of bi-polar disorder when you don't sleep enough, and you may have manic episodes, including sudden bouts of anger.

Even more alarming is the fact that you may take these feelings out on those around you or on yourself. Lack of sleep has even been linked to thoughts and feelings of suicide.