THON sleep deprivation

Sleep deprivation is the condition of not having enough sleep; it can be either chronic or acute. A chronic sleep-restricted state can cause fatigue, daytime sleepiness, clumsiness and weight loss or weight gain. During THON I know that a lot of people became sleep deprived. I knew some of the 2014 dancers and they were not allowed to sleep for the whole 46 hours at THON. I still hear stories about what happened in the 26th and so on hours and how people started hallucinating and became really clumsy. They described it as not being able to control their own body. Even though THON is a great organization, the dancers and some people in the stands become a whole different person after so many hours of them being there.  I remember seeing people pass out because of there symptoms from sleep deprivation and I also saw a lot of people getting really mad over absolutely nothing. I was only there for a certain amount of time and I started to feel sleep deprived. I also remember a lot of people sleeping for like twenty hours after THON was over because they were so tired. All I have to say is thank gosh most people who stay the whole time are from state college and mostly a bus or a walk away from where they live, because I couldn’t imagine how many car accidents and possible deaths there would be if most of the people had to drive themselves. I also remember how everyone was sick and had no voice for a week or so after THON and it is because sleep deprivation causes your immune system to be very low; meaning you get sick a lot faster. Luckily sleep deprivation can be cured quite quickly because it only takes a couple of days to catch back up on your sleep.

6 thoughts on “THON sleep deprivation

  1. Amber Judith Maiden

    I was a dancer my sophomore year for THON and let me tell you, that was an experience I will never forget. After so many hours you start turning into a different person. Everyone acts all smiley and happy when really all they want is to stop hearing the same songs over and over and to turn the music and lights down. I know people who were falling asleep in the bathroom and they had to send someone in to wake them up and get them out of the stall. I’ve seen passive aggressive fights between the dancers and their moralers who get to take nap breaks. You know what you sign up for but I agree that people change to an entirely different person once they’re sleep deprived. I see myself as a generally happy upbeat person but by the end I would have killed someone to just lay on the floor and sleep. And then afterwards for the next couple days after THON I felt sick and I had a constant headache. It really shows you how important sleep is not only to your attitude but to your health.

  2. James Raymond Moreland

    The whole time we were talking about sleep deprivation in class I thought about the THON dancers. I really like the connection you made at the end where you said you remember everyone getting sick the next couple days. You made another good point when you said it’s good people don’t need to drive home after THON because you’re right, there would be a lot of accidents and a lot of people falling asleep at the wheel. You connected a bunch of aspects of sleep deprivation to all of THON that went further than just the obvious ones of people sleeping for 20 hours after or just being tired after.

  3. azd5335

    I really liked your connection of sleep deprivation and how you associated it with THON. THON is a great example of how students can become sleep deprived and the effects it has on your body. Sleep habits are an important part in everyones’ lives and can create heavy health tolls. Without getting an adequate amount of sleep every night can lead to decreased performance, alertness, stress, memory loss, injury etc..
    I have experienced sleep deprivation and it had affected my thinking. You feel weak, clumsy, and start to become delusional. Sleep deprivation can result from stresses in daily life, mental-health conditions, or just because someone needs to stay up for the fun of it. People may not think how important sleep is but it can have long term affects too such as heart attacks, heart failure, strokes, obesity, and mental impairment.
    Sleep is a huge factor in the way we function every day.

  4. Gabriel Francis Revnew

    I absolutely love the fact that you wrote your blog assignment about THON. As a matter of fact, I was a Dancer for Alpha Tau Omega during THON 2014 and danced for the entire 46 hours. Being a THON Chair and Dancer for our organization, along with knowing that we raised over $375,000 for the kids between 125 members was the one thing that kept me going.

    While many individuals may have ” Blacked Out “, during their time dancing, the dancers themselves may have been able to avoid “blacking out” with proper training. In order to train properly, one must spend 1-2 months prior to THON exercising correctly, ensuring that they had proper sleeping patterns, and that they’re eating healthy meals a month prior to then – then they would be able to prevent any negative effects of sleep deprivation.

    Personally, after dancing for 46 hours, I slept for 7-8 hours, and was wide awake after the weekend (the seven dancers dancing with me did the same). The only reason we were able to do so was because of proper training. Ultimately, if you are going to dance during THON, dont be scared of sleep deprivation or “blacking out”, unless you do not prepare for THON at least prior to a month before the event. Good Luck on dancing! It’s an amazing experience! – FTK!

  5. Isabel Maria Carretero Ortiz De

    I agree with you that sleep deprivation is an issue in most students. Having a lot of homework and stress because of upcoming exams always keeps me up at night. On Sundays, which is the day I do all of my homework since I never want to do it on Friday or Saturday, I find myself awake at 5 or 6 in the morning sometimes, always because of work. I like the example you used of THON, since a lot of students get sleep deprived because of it. I was up in THON for 40 hours, which was a new record for me. I didn’t dance, but I supported my friend who was dancing. When I finally went to my bed I slept for almost 15 hours. It was the best feeling in the world. But I remember being tired the whole week after THON, even after sleeping that much, because sleep deprivation affects you for a very long time.

  6. Jessie

    My aunt was a dancer at Thon back in the 80’s, and she had to stay up for 48 hours. She was telling us stories about how sleep deprived she was. She experienced many symptoms of sleep deprivation that you mentioned in your post like fatigue and clumsiness. She also said there was one point in time when she could not control her own body. During the last hours of Thon, she was so tired that she just stopped dead in her tracks. She temporarily lost her memory and could not remember where she was. She stopped to look around and would identify objects around her. Finally, she figured out where she was, but she was genuinely confused where she was at. A man noticed her looking dazed, and he had to walk with her for a couple minutes until she finally gained back her awareness. I agree with you that sleep deprivation can be very unsafe.

Leave a Reply