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Is it okay to not sleep?

30 Answers
Last Updated: 01/25/2021 at 4:10am
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United States
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Stacey Kiger, LPC

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My belief is that therapy is not about giving advice, but joining you on your journey

Top Rated Answers
Salsashark
July 21st, 2015 4:13pm
Sleep is necessary for our bodies and minds to function properly. Not only after a few sleepless nights you can experience some disturbing and alarming side-effects, even hallucinations; but lack of sleep can also affect your mood. You shouldn't try to experiment with not sleeping if you feel like you need more time or just want to put your body to a test. However, if you have problems with insomnia, there are ways to treat it. Not only medication can help you get some sleep, there are some other techniques that you can research and try. For me practising meditation and mindfulness solved the problem, because my sleep was affected by racing thoughts. When I learned to control them I realised I am able to fall asleep a lot more easier.
littlesnowflake1
July 20th, 2015 11:53pm
No it is not okay to stay awake. Sleep is very much important. Sleep is like the recharge in one's person's life.
SummersDay25
November 7th, 2017 11:04am
no, you can't even survive nor be happy without sleep. It helps me escape reality and wake up refreshed, how cannot anyone like it? XD
Anonymous
April 9th, 2018 3:25am
It's okay to not sleep because you may not be tired to go to sleep momentarily and you still have a lot of energy that you don't know where to use it on.
Mjtalens
November 16th, 2015 5:06pm
no it isnt, you're body needs the rest! as soon as you can't sleep anymore try running before you go to sleep, and after the run take some warm milk with honey
bubblingLove76
August 24th, 2015 5:01pm
Sleep or the lack thereof has various physiological effects. It is quite important to get the right amount of sleep for your age in order to function properly.
Anonymous
August 10th, 2015 2:01am
If you don't feel like sleeping then yes, but if you're tired you need to find a way to sleep. or it'll affect you.
Brittneym101
August 4th, 2015 1:22am
I thought that it was ok not to sleep at all a long time ago, but I stopped sleeping for about 1 or 2 days and it's not healthy at all. Once I knew that I really needed to get some rest I still tried to fight my sleep. I had to be somewhere that next morning and I still stayed awake till I got home. When I finally went to sleep I slept for the rest of that day over into that next night. My eyes ended up being red and baggy. I could barely blink. At times I felt like I couldn't see. Not sleeping can affect a lot and it can also kill you from what I have been told and from research that I did a long time ago. I wasn't really even not sleeping on intentionally. I just couldn't sleep, because I had a lot going on at that point in time in my life and I had trouble falling asleep because I couldn't ever shut off my thoughts about someone and my family issues and just everything going on around me so I ended up not sleeping at all. Insomnia can also be the outcome of not sleeping. Be sure that you get some sleep. At least 8 out of the 24 hours a day. If not at least get an hour or two in.
Anonymous
July 28th, 2015 12:03am
It is never okay not to sleep. It's a dangerous thing. Sleep helps your brain re-energize itself. Just remember to sleep at least 8 hours a night or somewhere around there.
Dovah
July 14th, 2015 3:28pm
I'd like to say do what you feel comfortable with, but in reality, the body does need it's sleep, I stay up late (4am) on the weekends, and I'm okay with that! However, if I didn't sleep at all, that's when it may become a problem for me. Have you had a look at the sleeping well guide, here? https://www.7cups.com/sleeping-well/
Chevy81
July 14th, 2015 4:04am
Absolutely no. As a living human, our body needs to rest. If we force our body to work non-stop, it will affect our mind -the way we're thinking- and soon enough affect our heart the way we're feeling. And I'm sure, those thoughts and feelings wont't be positive ones. We need our beauty sleep in order to maintain our beautiful mind and heart (:
Anonymous
June 30th, 2015 5:31am
No, because the body needs time to heal, rest, and decompress. It also helps you store memories of the day, and keeps you more alert the next day!
Anonymous
June 13th, 2016 3:27am
People can function on very little sleep, like 3 hours a night, but then you'd be really tired and unfocused throughout the day, and you'll be prone to accidents and that's dangerous :O sleep is also important because it lets your mind process properly what you've learned during the day as well as do 'maintenance' like boosting up your immune system. It's really, really important that you sleep enough so you can function properly and don't get sick easily.
MissMeghan
July 25th, 2017 7:16pm
It depends, one night without sleep because you're " working on that paper for school", or even just out "having a good time" is okay, now, if your having trouble sleeping for a long period of time, you should consult with your doctor, and you could have a sleep condition
bubblingBreeze14
October 24th, 2017 10:54am
Sleep is very important to our body, as it helps us to forget all unwanted and gather all the strength we need to face whatever comes the other day. Why would you want not to sleep anyway? It's the best way to reduce/remove stress from you. Sleep is the best medicine at hard times, cause once you wake up you'll be less stressful than you were the earlier day. And you can dream :) All the nice things that could obviously bring smile to your face. So why not sleep. Have some sleep & feel the difference :)
Herequeerandcheering
December 14th, 2015 3:35am
No it is not. When you don't sleep it is very unhealthy. You cannot function properly. And it can cause you to make some serious I mistakes. Depending on how much of a lack of sleep it can cause you to hallucinate, more of a temper, have trouble finishing sentences, and many other things
freefromworries
November 7th, 2016 1:47pm
In short, no. There are times when people pull all-nighters (for work, for school, etc) and every once in a while they are not going to kill you, That being said, it is important for you to sleep. Sleeping a little less each night won't be the end of the world, but sleep is important for so many things. It helps keep you awake and alert during your day, it keeps your motor skills refined, it helps you remember things. Sleep is vital, and that's why you need it. If you go without sleeping for an extended amount of time, it can cause paranoia, hallucinations, etc. so it's not something you should try.
phosphenerelief
August 28th, 2018 12:16am
Every now and again maybe, but this is hugely dependent on your reason for not sleeping - If you're staying up overnight because you have a task you MUST do for the next day or are trying to fix your poor sleeping pattern by staying up all night to sleep early the next day then that is completely understandable as these are productive, target driven motives that aim to improve future outcomes/ avoid negative ones. However, if it is becoming frequent, due to procrastination or simply a lack of desire to sleep then I highly implore you to sleep or at least try to regardless, as there are many negative outcomes both physically and mentally to poor sleep or sleeping odd or irregular hours and thus it is important when able to sleep 8-10 hours, at night.
Anonymous
July 30th, 2019 2:45am
Hello, I believe that it depends on how regularly this occurs. occasionally missing a night of sleep is perfectly fine, but long-term it can cause numerous problems. If you have trouble sleeping you can try meditation or other relaxation techniques. I used to have problems where I wouldn't sleep for days on end, and It really affected my personal life. I found out that my lack of sleep was caused by stress. It's much better for your physical and mental state to get at least a few hours of sleep every night. Even taking naps throughout the day can greatly benefit your wellbeing
BlueJayRose
December 31st, 2019 3:35am
Not sleeping can be dangerous. Depending on how long it has been going on, the brain can begin to hallucinate and even shut down, as sleep is the time that the mind and body rest and heal from the day’s efforts. If one isn’t able to sleep, said rest isn’t given to the mind and body, causing it to not be able to heal and rejuvenate.
Anonymous
January 25th, 2021 4:10am
Sleep is incredibly important for mental and physical health. If one does not sleep there can be dire consequences. Sleep helps with repairing the body, consolidating memory, and removing toxins from the brain. It is critical that one get a sufficient amount of sleep. If you do not get 8-10 hours of sleep per night, you should speak to your primary care doctor about what can be done. It is important to practice sleep hygiene, decrease stress, and consult your physician about starting any medications. Do not self medicate with drugs or alcohol as they do not actually help you get restful sleep.
sempiternaldreams
July 25th, 2016 1:57am
Some people need to sleep more than others to function correctly, but it's not healthy for people to spend logs periods of time without sleeping.
Briannacheer
June 7th, 2016 3:54pm
Sleep is so important for our bodies to function properly, if we did not have sleep we would get sick and ill. So therefore, it is not okay to not sleep. You need sleep, maybe if you are having trouble sleeping.. then maybe there are certain triggers and maybe you are over thinking certain things.
Belbelbel
June 6th, 2016 8:18pm
No, definitely not - your body needs sleep, and so does your mind. This is when your brain settles down to rethink what's happened doing the day and preparing you for tomorrow. Especially your REM-sleep (Rapid Eye Movement) is very important. It's a part of your sleep cycle, and this is also when you dream. Once, someone tried to stop sleeping, and already after a few days without sleep he begun hallucinating, and he forget a lot. So please sleep - you need it!
ChaoticGood
April 5th, 2016 1:12am
No. You need 8-12 hours of sleep a night, over 12 causes your body clock to reset and think you've only slept however long past twelve hours. not sleeping causes headaches, getting sick, and it can seriously affect you
SarcasticStatic
February 28th, 2015 5:26am
No it is not okay, sleep is something you need for energy. If you stop sleeping you will be tired all the time.
EffeErc91
November 25th, 2015 11:39am
It depends, mybe someone need more or less time to sleep to feel good and awake. So doctors say usually better sleeping more ore less 7/8 hours for night. But if you sleep less and you feel good, don't worry.
Twokindears
June 12th, 2015 9:49am
Sometimes no matter how hard you try to fall asleep you just can't....this has happened to most of us at some point in our life for whatever reason. Losing a nights worth a sleep isn't that bad but when this becomes a regular pattern it is very unhealthy to your emotional,mental,and physical well being. Sleep deprivation has an ill effect on the body as a whole. It throws the internal click off making it hard to think clearly,eat properly, or do daily tasks which leads to an unhealthy lifestyle . So inadequate sleep is not okay to your well being!
ahelpinghand100
May 11th, 2015 3:34pm
Nope, you need a specific amount of sleep every night to maintain your heath and to keep your functioning properly.
professionalEmbrace58
March 18th, 2015 1:58pm
Your body needs sleep to function. During sleep your body and mind reset for the next day. It can be difficult to sleep, but it's not okay to not sleep. If your body is deprived of sleep, you cannot function properly