16 Important Facts That You Should Know About Sleep
Sleep has always been a subject of great mystery and fascination. Everyone in the world does it, but everyone does it differently. For some, it’s the easiest thing in the world while for others, it causes nothing but problems. Either way, it’s a universal thing but there are many facts that not everybody knows! Here’s a list of a few of the mind blowing facts.
1. The record for the longest period without sleep is 18 days, 21 hours, and 40 minutes.
Considering that you can die from sleep deprivation after 10 days, you can only imagine what this person was going through! They may have been suffering from symptoms such as decreased impairment, loss of memory, and huge increased chance for accidents. If you’re not sleeping for this long, you most definitely have a poor quality of life!
2. There are two period for maximum sleepiness.
These include the late afternoon (3-5 pm) and the end of the night (3-5 am). There are also two periods of maximum alertness; at 1 am and 1 pm.
3. You’ll die from sleep deprivation before starvation.
A person will die without food after 2 weeks, but it only takes 10 days to die without sleep. So if you have a choice between sleeping or getting something to eat, get some sleep!
4. Dreaming used to happen predominantly in black and white.
Before the invention of the TV, most people dreamed in black and white. That’s definitely not the case nowadays, though; the majority of people dream in color. Two recent studies show that younger people rarely dream in black and white, while older people report it more often (although it’s still a low percentage).
Sleep will always be somewhat of a mystery to many of us. Although we’re learning more and more through research, it’s hard to study something that only happens when people are unconscious. But love it or hate it, you’ll be doing it for the rest of your life!
