What are the consequences for staying awake for 3-4 days on a high risk mission where you have to be constantly vigilant? What would recovery look like and would a medical professional (such as Aramis) know what was happening/how to treat it. Looking to rewrite a fic I wrote with an OC
Tolerance to sleep deprivation varies among different people. Some people tire easily and require more than the average 7-8 hours of sleep. Some can stay awake for 18-20 hours straight with little problem. If you are used to pulling off all nighters [*cries in current MB exams*] you might find yourself being able to resist sleep for longer hours more easily (my current record is 36 hours without sleep lol) (however it doesn't mean that you won't crash and sleep for 16-24 hours straight later lololol). Generally, resisting sleep is easier during the day with bright natural/artificial light and lots of noise and distraction around you than at night when it's dark and quite and your biological clock is shouting at you that IT'S TIME TO SLEEP GODAMMIT! (But if you work at a job that demands frequent night-shifts, your biological clock will adjust to have you alert at night and asleep during the day)
These are some of the effects of sleep deprivation based on studies (and some personal experiences)
24 hours without sleep: You feel drowsy, restless and irritable. Your eyes might be puffy and red, with dark circles under them. If you are actively engaged in some work, then you are probably fine and don't feel the effects too much.
36 hours hours without sleep: The above symptoms intensify. Sitting still or idle might have you unconsciously drifting off to sleep.
48 hours without sleep: A little nap sounds so sweet, so heavenly, you will honestly kill for it. You might start having a phenomenon called microsleeps, where you have an extremely brief nap lasting for a few seconds. Generally, microsleeps happen without the person being even aware of it.
This is also a point where you generally start having a phenomenon called sleep deprivation psychosis. It means that your perception of reality is severely distorted and you begin to hallucinate. You see, hear or feel things that are not there.
In addition to all of this, you are extremely stressed, irritable and angry. Your fatigue levels are off the charts. Your reaction time is sluggish and your ability to process what's happening around you is severely impaired. Your memory is foggy.
After 72 hours: Life is fucking awful. Your microsleeps are longer and more uncontrollable. Your sense of perception is severely impaired. Your hallucinations are worse and more frightening. In addition to hallucinations, you might also start having illusions (incorrect interpretation by the senses of object which exists) and delusions (incorrect belief about an external reality that is firmly held, despite strong evidence to the contrary). Even your sense of self is taking a hit, a phenomenon called depersonalization, where you feel robotic and detached from your own body. In addition, all of the above mentioned symptoms intensify.
After 96 hours: Basically, everything that I mentioned in the 72 hour mark but much, much worse. Your urge to sleep is overwhelming.
Recovery from sleep deprivation simply involves catching up on all the lost sleep. You might feel groggy even after waking up for a while but that will gradually wear off. Chronic sleep deprivation is bad and can affect your lifestyle but one-off sleep deprivations for long hours doesn't have a long term impact on health. The record for the longest period without sleep is 11 days and many subjects have gone through 8-10 days without sleep under controlled environments. They all recovered after a few days of recovery sleep and none of them suffered from any long term physical, psychological, mental or neurological health problems.
If it is a modern au and assuming Aramis has had some training as a medic, he will likely know of the possible effects. Hell, even some previous personal experiences of long hours without sleep will make him familiar with the effects, modern au or canon timeline. Canon Aramis was involved in a lot of battles pre-series, so it's entirely possible that he has experience in remaining sleep deprived and hypervigilant.
[As payment for this answer, I demand a link to the fic, if and when you publish it >:) ]
