As of: January 29, 2024, 7:04 p.m
By: Bjarne Kommnick
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A man from Vietnam claims he hasn't slept since 1962.
A YouTuber visited him to get to the bottom of the matter.
Ho Chi Minh City – Awake for three days, Thai Ngoc from South Vietnam can probably only smile at this sentence.
Because what for some would be the longest time without sleep in their lives, for the 80-year-old, according to his own statements, it is only a small fraction of his sleepless time.
Ngoc claims he hasn't slept since 1962.
YouTuber Drew Binsky got to the bottom of the matter and visited the man at his home.
Man claims he hasn't slept in 61 years
When it comes to the statement that he hasn't slept for 61 years - because that's how long it's been since Ngoc last slept - some people might become skeptical.
After all, “with just 24 hours without sleep and a slight lack of sleep, body functions are at risk of no longer functioning properly,” as mein Schlaf.de reports.
After 48 hours without sleep, the body would only be “half as efficient as when it was well rested”.
YouTuber and influencer Drew Binsky (pictured left) interviews Thai Ngoc, who claims he hasn't slept since 1962.
© YouTube/Drew Binsky
After three days of sleep deprivation, the person is usually “hardly responsive” and the person affected “is essentially sleeping with his eyes open.”
The current state of science is that it is not possible to stay awake indefinitely because the body would eventually fall asleep on its own.
However, there are diseases such as “lethal insomnia”, in which those affected remain awake indefinitely, but only until they fall into a coma and ultimately die.
Man suspects the Vietnam War was a trigger for insomnia
So is it even possible that Ngoc has been awake since 1962?
YouTuber Drew Binsky from Arizona visited the man at his home after an extensive search.
In a conversation, he explains that he has not been able to sleep since the “American War,” as the Ngoc family calls it, known in the West as the Vietnam War, which raged in the country from 1955 to 1975.
That's why he believes that the war is also the trigger for his condition, but he can't say what exactly would keep him from sleeping.
That's why Binsky asks: "What do the doctors say?" According to the Ngoc family, they also couldn't find a reason why the man no longer sleeps.
If the family were telling the truth, then the 80-year-old would certainly have set a world record because, according to Healthline, “the longest recorded time without sleep is approximately 264 hours,” which would be roughly 11 days, “although it is unclear how long people can survive without sleep”.
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Man hasn't slept since 1962 - PTSD as a cause of years of lack of sleep?
The case is being discussed widely online.
Many believe it is possible that Ngoc has not slept since 1962.
A user comments under Binsky's video: "He hasn't slept since the Vietnam War, I think it's a rare form of PTSD", i.e. post-traumatic stress disorder.
Another says: “That’s crazy.”
And a local journalist from the Ngoc region also speaks out: “I also did a story about him and I’m sure he suffers from PTSD because of the war.”
“That’s impressive”: Man without sleep fascinates the internet
Although one might think that Ngoc would have more active life than others because he doesn't sleep, he himself would rather be able to sleep normally than be awake all the time, as his son translates for Binsky.
Nevertheless, he uses much of his free time to be productive and, for example, to work on his fields or to produce rice wine, which he sells on the market.
His story has also been broadcast on national television in Vietnam.
Surprisingly, there are only a few users on the internet who don't believe that Ngoc is telling the truth.
Instead, there is a hail of pity and fascination for the man's story.
“For everything the man has already been through, he still seems to smile a lot and enjoy life, which is impressive.”
If you don't want to go without sleep like Ngoc and make sure you get enough sleep, you could test this trick from soldiers from the Second World War.