Problems caused by long term sleep loss
Although the occasional sleepless night is normal, long term sleep deprivation can cause a number of health problems and increase the chances of having an accident. For example, the Department for Transport reports that nearly four hundred deaths per year are caused by tired drivers. In fact driving while tired has been shown to be as much of a danger as driving when drunk. My driving certainly got worse following three sleepless days.

Even if you avoid the car, sleep deprivation can lead to poor blood sugar regulation, which will ultimately damage your health, and the moodiness and irritability that go with chronic sleep deprivation can cause problems at work. There is currently much concern about the effect of sleep deprivation on modern mums. 56% of working mothers said weariness left them in a state of despair, 70% said that their tiredness was so debilitating that they felt unable to function properly, most said that sleep deprivation had caused immense strain and rows, while over 70% said that they had gone right off sex. Bummer!

Stress and Anxiety
Without enough rest most people suffer a deterioration in their moods. They become irritable and short tempered. Stress and anxiety levels both rise with lack of sleep, and this can lead to a vicious circle: lack of sleep > stress and anxiety > insomnia > lack of sleep > more stress and anxiety, etc. Peter Naish (who appears in the 'Fear' programme in this series) tells me that hypnosis can help to break this nasty cycle. During the programme we checked my level of stress by testing for concentrations of hormones such as Cortisol in my blood. The body produces these to help with 'fight-or-flight' at times of danger. We compared my concentrations with Zeron's. While his stayed more or less the same, my concentrations began to climb.

Memory and Mental Functioning
The brain needs rest and will not work properly when you don't get enough sleep. Concentration levels drop, the memory becomes impaired, speech becomes slurred and reaction times slow down. On the third day of the sleep programme I really thought that I was driving the car pretty well around the cone course set out around the Millennium dome car park. How wrong could I be? With less and less sleep the brain's ability to solve problems and make decisions fails and hallucinations are common. I once experienced hallucinations after driving for over thirty hours during an international rally. It's not funny and it's not clever. I was lucky not to crash.

Testosterone
We also measured levels of the sex hormone testosterone. It has been shown that sleep deprivation reduces the testosterone levels in the blood. We compared my levels with Zeron's and mine showed a marked decline. Mind you Zeron was only sleeping for about three hours a day, so he wasn't the ideal 'control' and his went down during the filming as well. It didn't decline as much as mine though.

General Fitness
Muscle strength and endurance drops, and it gets difficult to perform fine motor functions (for example repairing a clock or operating a calculator). When my physical performance was tested after one, then two nights without sleep I showed a definite decline, allowing Zeron to kick my arse. Thankfully, there wasn't enough time to include this in the finished programme, so I was spared that humiliation!

There is also good evidence that sleep deprivation compromises the immune system resulting in a greater chance than normal of going down with infections.

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Content last updated: 25/08/2005

Dr. Pater Naish

Peter Naish is a lecturer in Cognitive Psychology at the Open University. He has a particular interest in the mechanisms and effects of hypnosis, including its ability to influence perceptions or memories.

He is a member of the Council of the British Society of Experimental and Clinical Hypnosis, and chairs the Scientific Advisory Board of the British False Memory Society.

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