A man who went eight days without sleep led him to believe his life had become The Truman Show.
In March 2021 Tommy Graves was so dedicated to raising money for a homeless charity that he didn't go to bed for over a week.
"I just got really excited about it and worked tirelessly on it. The more I worked on it the more stressed I became," the 27-year-old recalled.
"I couldn't get to sleep at all as much as I tried because my brain wouldn't switch off."
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Considering the fact that adults are advised to get anywhere between seven and nine hours of sleep a night, Tommy ended up depriving his body of at least 56 hours of rest – which of course had devastating effects on his health.
As the days went by Tommy ended up becoming delusional, believing he was able to end global conflict as well as solve issues such as racism, sexism and cancer.
Given his severe sleep deprivation and erratic behaviour, it wasn't a surprise that Tommy was eventually admitted to hospital by concerned friends and family, ultimately spending four weeks in a psychiatric facility.
While in hospital Tommy's delusions continued, with the events manager believing he was performing on a television set, similar to Jim Carrey in 1998 film The Truman Show.
"I was extremely coherent but I was not making sense," he recalled, saying he felt like he'd 'completely left planet Earth' during his early days in the hospital.
"By this point I didn't even know where I was. I thought I was in a television studio, like The Truman Show.
"I was performing to these cameras at the mental health hospital and I was trying to engage and entertain the audience. There was singing, dancing, cartwheels, running up walls. I leaped over a nurse.
"One of the nurses told me I would get an Oscar if I carried on like this. Most people would have seen that as sarcasm but I thought I'd love to get an Oscar," he continued.
"I had no sense of what reality was, I was hearing and thinking and seeing things that were not real."
It was ultimately determined that Tommy had experienced a manic episode with psychosis and was put to sleep using medication before spending the following weeks recovering.
"I never thought that could happen to me," he admitted, adding that the terrifying experience led him to train to be a sleep coach.
He now runs workshops advising people on how to make the most of their sleep.
One thing in particular which Tommy urges people to do is get into a regular sleep cycle in order to maximise productivity.
"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," he said.
"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. Might as well make the most of the day.
"It's not about having less fun, it's about doing it at a time that doesn't make you exhausted."
Tips on how to get a good night's rest from a sleep coach
Tommy's key recommendation for people looking to improve their sleep is making sure they have a consistent sleep cycle, which includes having a regular sleep and wake time.
Other recommendations from Tommy include:
- Avoiding bright light from overhead lights and blue light from phones / devices within 90 minutes of going to sleep
- Don't do anything that's demanding of you within one hour of going to bed, physically or mentally.
- Avoid eating food within three hours before going to bed
- Have no more than 400mg of coffee a day and don't drink any within 8 hours of bedtime
Topics: Health, Mental Health, UK News, Lifestyle
Brenna Cooper