Man shares everything that happened to him after not sleeping for eight days

There's going the extra mile for a good cause, then there's pushing yourself so far that eight sleepless nights in the name of charity land you in a psychiatric ward.

That's what happened to Tommy Graves back in March 2021, when he was trying to raise money for a local homeless charity.

His commitment to the fundraising drive ended up costing him four weeks of his life, as the lack of sleep left him 'delusional' and suspecting he was in The Truman Show.

The 1998 film, starring Jim Carrey, follows a man who is unaware that his entire life is being captured on camera and broadcast to the world - as the 27-year-old has now told how he was 'performing' for the cameras in the mental hospital his concerned relatives rushed him to.

"I was trying to engage and entertain the audience," Tommy, from Bermondsey, London, explained. "There was singing, dancing, cartwheels, running up walls. I leaped over a nurse."

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It took him weeks to gain a grip on reality again, prompting him to qualify as a sleep coach and embark on a mission to 'make it cool to have a bedtime'.

Tommy explained that he used to be stuck in the 'vicious cycle of exhaustion' after missing out on sleep while partying with his pals and playing catch-up the following week.

But he got an extremely rude awakening reminding him just how important rest is five years ago, when he did not sleep for more than a week while brainstorming ideas for his charity fundraiser.

"I just got really excited about it and worked tirelessly on it," Tommy said. "The more I worked on it, the more stressed I became, the more ideas came into my head...and the harder I found it to sleep.

"My brain wouldn't switch off. As the days went on, the ideas got more and more extreme, elaborate, some people would say delusional."

Tommy Graves, 27, was admitted into a mental health hospital after going more than a week without sleep (Kennedy News and Media)

Sharing an insight into what was going through his mind, the Brit said: "By day six of not sleeping, the idea had gone from raising £100 to raising £66million.

"I had a plan to end racism, end sexism, end wars, cure cancer, all of these amazing things. I was then admitted to a mental health hospital."

Tommy said that although he was 'extremely coherent', nothing he said was 'making sense', so his nearest and dearest intervened.

The lad explained that due to a combination of stress and sleep deprivation, he experienced a 'manic episode with psychosis'.

Tommy said he 'completely left planet Earth' - believing he had a meeting with the Queen and thinking that providing the entertainment in hospital could bag him an Oscar.

His lack of rest resulted in him suffering a 'manic episode with psychosis' (Kennedy News and Media)

He explained: "I had no sense of what reality was, I was hearing and thinking and seeing things that were not real. They managed to finally put me to sleep after giving me all sorts of medication.

"I spent the next four weeks in the mental health hospital coming back to the real world. I was in the highest level of care you can get. I never thought that could happen to me.

"That was enough to scare me into picking up a book and figuring out how to sleep well. My life had just been blown to bits."

He was left feeling both 'incredibly embarrassed' and 'sad' after he was finally discharged a month later, but was desperate to ensure he never 'lost his sense of reality again'.

A doctor urged him to 'learn how to sleep', which he says is advice that completely changed his life. He qualified as a sleep coach in April last year.

He has since qualified as a sleep coach (Kennedy News and Media)

Tommy went on: "As soon as I learned to sleep better my brain started working, my productivity got higher, I experienced what life feels like when you're fully rested.

"Having a consistent bed time and wake time is pivotal, that is the most important thing you can do. I'm on a mission to make it cool to have a bed time. I'll go out at midday and stay out until 9pm.

"It's not about having less fun, it's about doing it at a time that doesn't make you exhausted. I want to spread awareness that sleep is connected to every main mental health condition, either making symptoms worse or being a key driver in the problem existing in the first place."

On average, adults need between seven to nine hours of sleep each night, according to the NHS. If you're struggling with getting some shut-eye, make sure you inform your GP so you can discuss your options.