The streamer Norme stayed awake for 11 consecutive days and broke the record for the longest sleepless stream. An expert has now spoken out and reassured everyone.
What kind of stream was this? The YouTube streamer Norme wanted to break a record. His goal was to stay awake live in the stream for 264 hours and 24 minutes. That’s over 11 full days. However, his record attempt was not only physically demanding.
On two platforms, the streamer was banned during his attempt, as Dexerto reports. First, YouTube showed him the red card, then the streamer switched to Kick, where he was also kicked out after some time.
The streamer ended the self-experiment on the platform Rumble. The platforms probably did not want to endorse his dangerous behavior. During the stream, Norme reportedly collapsed multiple times and had to be kept awake by his friends.
Many viewers were worried about him. Now an expert has expressed her opinion and explained how dangerous the action really was.
“Won’t be too harmful”
How dangerous was the stream? Sleep physiologist Stephanie Romiszewski spoke in an interview with Dexerto about the exceptional situation. She knows a lot about such scenarios and holds a Bachelor of Science (B.Sc.) with honors in Psychology and a Master of Science (M.Sc.) in Behavioral Sleep Medicine (via sleepyheadclinic.co.uk).
“The most concerning side effect of actively trying not to sleep are indeed the microsleep phases, which can make certain activities, such as driving, very dangerous. It is true that performance, the immune system, and memory decline without the regular cleansing and recovery system that sleep provides.”
Such microsleep phases would always occur, even in the best-studied attempts in sleep laboratories.
“If you do this regularly (trying to force yourself to stay awake for extreme periods, then ‘recovery sleep’, then again and again), it is likely that this will lead to more significant problems over time, as your body loses the predictable and regular opportunity for cleansing/recovery/rejuvenation,” she explains in the interview.
It also becomes serious for people suffering from mental illnesses or physical conditions, or those who regularly take medication. Sleep deprivation would often exacerbate their conditions.
“It is likely that a one-time attempt (for an otherwise healthy person) is not too harmful, aside from cognitive performance declining and not feeling 100% well. However, if you keep conducting this type of experiment repeatedly, regardless of your health condition, it has long-term effects on health, such as an increased risk of cardiovascular diseases (like heart attack and stroke), obesity, and severe mental illnesses.”
What happened next for the streamer? The streamer completed the experiment and thus broke the record for the longest sleepless stream. The record for the longest sleepless time is held by Robert McDonald with 18 days and 21 hours (via Wikipedia).
However, after one record came another. The streamer wanted to achieve the longest sleep stream. These are streams where the streamer is just sleeping and not awake. Norme was able to break this record with his “recovery sleep” of 38 hours according to his own statements.
If this remains a one-time experiment, the streamer is likely to suffer no long-term consequences from the action. However, the expert believes that this experiment should not be repeated. Other streamers can also sleep for a long time, for example, Knossi, who almost got eliminated in 7 vs. Wild due to his long sleep: 7 vs. Wild Season 3: Because Knossi overslept, his whole team almost got eliminated
