How long can a person live without sleep?

Answer 1

Most adults may have experienced insomnia or sleeplessness at one time or another in their lives. An estimated 30-50% of the general population are affected by insomnia, and 10% have chronic insomnia. Insomnia is a symptom, not a stand-alone diagnosis. By definition, insomnia is "difficulty initiating or maintaining sleep, or both." Insomnia affects all age groups. Among older adults, insomnia affects women more often than men. The incidence increases with age. Idiopathic Insomnia is a lifelong inability to obtain adequate sleep that is presumably due to an abnormality of the neurological control of the sleep-wake system. The insomnia is long-standing, commonly beginning in early childhood, sometimes since birth. There are a few persons who could not sleep after they became adults but still maintained reasonably goood health. For more information refer to the following: http://www.abc.net.au/science/sleep/facts.htm To set up a new record in staying awake, Randy Gardner of San Diego spent 263 hours without sleep. He appeared to be in good health and showed no signs of any psychotic behavior. http://www.sdreader.com/php/cover.php?mode=article&showpg=1&id=20040923 Correction this is simply the most well known case the National Sleep and Research Project reports 18 days, 21 hours and 40 minutes as being the record for someone without a sleeping disorder. It is also a fact that many soldiers in various militaries have on occasion gone for two weeks or more without sleep, debate this if you will however I have been in bother the South African and Australian military and I have stayed awake for more than two weeks at a time quite a number of times just to keep my head on my shoulders. As for staying awake with insomnia most human beings can only survive between 7 to 24 months without any sleep however there is a rumour going about a specific person having made 33 years without any sleep. However I cannot confirm that I do not trust sites such as Wikipedia.

Answer 2

a person can live without sleeping for 12 days.