An ABC News employee is trying to stay awake for 40 straight hours to celebrate the "Good Morning America" 40th anniversary. The chief of ABC News' Medical Unit will not get one wink of sleep for nearly two sleepless nights in a sleep deprivation experiment to reveal how not getting one catnap at nighttime can affect a person's physical and mental health.
Dan Childs will have no shut-eye for about 1.6 days. Experts have discovered that a lack of sleep can cause various effects on short-term memory, appetite, and heart health, according to ABC News.
Childs will stay awake to show how getting no sleep can quickly affect a person's health. He will pass the time by playing memory games, interviewing experts, and even doing an "Operation" (Milton Bradley game).
Former Navy SEAL Stew Smith was required to stay awake for several days without shut-eye during his military training. Three sleepless days had major effects. He perceived a bridge as a super-sized Pez dispenser, and an airplane as a flying horse. Real objects would turn into cartoon characters and his body went into "survival mode," according to ABC News.
However, the Navy SEALs had to stay awake for two more days. The intensive training included running, swimming, climbing, and jumping into freezing water.
Experts recommend different amounts of sleep for various age groups. Non-senior citizen adults should usually snooze 7 to 9 hours per night.
The United States' Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) report that 50 to 70 million U.S. adults suffer from sleep deprivation. A 2013 Gallup poll showed that 40 percent of Americans get less than the recommended amount of sleep.
This video explains how much sleep is "enough":