Credits: Social Media
TikTok’s ‘3 Day Sleep Theory’ is a very dangerous trend with serious health effects
A new trend has emerged on TikTok called ‘3 Day Sleep Theory’, which shouldn’t be attempted as it can have very dangerous effects on your health.
What is TikTok’s ‘3 Day Sleep Theory’?
The 3-Day Sleep Theory says that if you don’t sleep for three days in a row, you will experience hallucinations.
A hallucination is a false perception of something that is not actually present in the environment. They seem very real, but are not.
Some TikTok users are attempting the challenge, with one person writing: “Me after trying the 3 days no sleep theory and seeing things that I shouldn’t be able to see.”
“You literally start hearing the people you love start randomly speaking to you. Having conversations with past or present,” another says.
However, doing this is not recommended and going without sleep for many days can have incredibly harmful effects.
Lack of sleep does cause hallucinations
It’s scientifically proven that going for long stints without sleep isn’t healthy and does cause hallucinations.
A study by Front Psychiatry in the National Library of Medicine found that going without sleep for long periods of time can produce “perceptual distortions and hallucinations”.
Psychotic symptoms develop with increasing time awake, starting with simple visual misperceptions to hallucinations and delusions, and ending in a condition that resembles acute psychosis.
Verywell Health adds that around 80% of people will hallucinate if they are severely sleep deprived, with ‘severe’ ranging from only a few hours sleep in a night to several days without any.
These hallucinations are caused by chemical reactions or abnormalities in your brain and are usually resolved with sleep, but persistent symptoms are possible.
Not sleeping can have dangerous effects
However, the dangers of not sleeping go far beyond hallucinations. As Healthline explains, sleep deprivation can have a number of terrifying effects including:
- High blood pressure
- Risk for diabetes
- Memory issues
- Risk of heart disease
- Increased accidents
- Poor balance
- Weight gain
- Low sex drive
- Mood changes
- Weakened immunity
Most healthy adults need at least seven hours of sleep each night. If you have continued difficulty sleeping at night, you should talk to your doctor.
