January 22, 2005
I Want this Problem
A man hasn't slept in 20 years:
Ukrainian Fyodor Nesterchuk from the town of Kamen-Kashirsky said the last time he managed to doze off was more than 20 years ago."I can't remember the exact date and I don't know why it started, but all of a sudden I found it more and more difficult to nod off until eventually I was awake the entire night.
I wonder what, if any, psychological effect this has had on him. Research has consistently shown the sleep is important in helping us learn new things, remember facts, and solve problems. Has his ability in these areas been in any way decreased? Does he hallucinate? I do wish sleep were optional. If I could choose to stay awake with no ill effects and at full mental capacity, I don't know that I'd ever sleep again, except maybe as a sort of drug.
Sounds like Martin.
Little know fact is that Martin stayed awake once for 6 days straight. Sounds strange until you know Martin.
I believe it, but I bet he was incredibly annoying. I was with him one time after he'd been awake for only 12 or so hours when we were driving to NM and he turned into a gibberish spouting machine. How much of that was because he thought it would be funny to make us want to kill him is an open question, but still...
I'm extremely skeptical of this story. Given the huge amount of evidence that shows sleep to be absolutely essential to, um, people staying alive, I would assume this would be a much bigger deal if it was real - this guy would have Western doctors crawling all over him.