No-sleep challenge: The dangers of sleep deprivation

Sleep deprivation can be acute or chronic, and the former can happen over a day or two.

- Adam Taylor

Most of us will be all too familiar with that dopey, groggy feeling of being tired after a restless night.

Some social media users have taken tiredness to the extreme, however, by taking part in what they call a "no-sleep challenge".

One 19-year-old Youtuber, Norme, live-streamed his attempt to break a world record for consecutive days without sleep. At the 250-hour mark, viewers voiced concerns about Norme's health and well-being, but he eventually finished with a "no sleep" time of 264 hours and 24 minutes.

Norme's attempt earned him bans from social media platforms YouTube and Kick. But, despite his claims to have beaten the world record, his ordeal was not enough to beat the last Guinness World Record holder Robert McDonald, who racked up 453 hours - almost 19 days – in 1986.

In 1997, Guinness World Records stopped monitoring the record for the longest time without sleep for safety reasons and they were quite right. Going without sleep for extended periods of time can prove extremely dangerous.