History Main / SleepDeprivation

Characters who can't sleep or haven't slept well become irritated, tired, exhausted, sick, crazy, desperate, proud of the accomplishment... It depends how serious the situation is and how it is played. It can be played for laughs, for drama or horror. Those who can't sleep will often have ExhaustedEyeBags and the situation might lead to them looking SeriouslyScruffy, even after just one sleepless night, though it's more common to show after a longer period of sleeplessness.

* In the novelisation of ''Literature/RevengeOfTheSith'', Anakin's nightmares of Padme's death show up every time he sleeps, so he stops doing it and relies on the Force for strength and alertness. That might explain some of the irrational behaviour he demonstrates in the film.

* In ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/12930880/1/Lucy-s-Secret Lucy's Secret,]]'' Lucy [[EmbarrassingDampSheets wets the bed]] and doesn't get enough sleep due to her attempts to clean it up. She ends up falling AsleepInClass and being sent to the principal's office.

[[quoteright:350:[[WesternAnimation/TomAndJerry https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/tome_tired_1.png]]]]

* In ''Film/InvasionOfTheBodySnatchers1978'', pods from space land on Earth, containing aliens that copy humans in their sleep. TheHero tries to stave off sleep as long as he can to avoid the alien menace.
* ''Film/TheLeagueOfGentlemen''. Hyde tells everyone to get a good night's sleep before TheCaper but everyone, including Hyde, is shown to be still awake the following morning. The only person who has a relaxing night is Lexy who slips out to see his girlfriend, only to get busted trying to sneak back into the house by the wide-awake Hyde.

* ''Webcomic/TheGreenhouse'': Mica can't seem to feel rested, which is weird because she's never had that problem before, even in high-stress situations and worse beds. Probably nothing to do with the creepy mirror she broke or the strange figure she's been glimpsing as she wakes up and in reflections ever since. DemonicPossession is a thing of fiction. ...Yeah, it's the demon 'Red' feeding on her soul. Once she gets a charm to protect her [[spoiler:and then a second one because she breaks the first]], she's able to get enough rest, but the ExhaustedEyeBags never go away, a constant reminder that however stable things may seem, her bond with Red is not healthy for her. [[spoiler:Once her bond with Red is severed, the ExaustedEyeBags finally disappear, and presumably this trope is no longer in effect]].

* In ''Webcomic/NextSoundOfTheFuture'', Gumiya used to lose sleep over the stress of being unable to find a job.
* In ''Webcomic/{{Oglaf}}'', [[MeaningfulName Sir Coffee]] cannot get any sleep because he's always TheOnlyOne who can save the princess or the townspeople or whatever disaster unfolds that requires immediate attention.

* In ''Manga/DeathNote'' L is a GreatDetective that works day and night solving high-profile cases. Because of that, he has severe undereye circles, and relies on sugar to keep himself going. When he ''does'' sleep (only when he's too exhausted to continue and his body gives out on him), he's out for ''days''.

** One episode’s B plot is about Johnny not getting to sleep. He tries several different things and gets rubbed by the other guys who rig up a Stokes basket with ropes as a way to rock himself to sleep. In the end, he’s half asleep when a minor call comes for the engine and climbs on the back of the rig as it leaves. Roy oddly doesn’t alert anyone and just goes back to bed.

* ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' explored this in "Night Terrors" when the ''Enterprise'' comes across another Federation starship where all of the crew (except one) killed themselves or each other. Investigation determined that the ship became trapped in a [[NegativeSpaceWedgie Tyken's Rift]] with an alien vessel whose attempts at communication slowly drove the crew mad through sleep deprivation (specifically, deprivation of REM sleep and dreaming). And now the same thing was happening to the ''Enterprise'' crew.

** In "Waking Moments", the whole crew has nightmares (except the Doctor), and Neelix is kept awake by his, which leaves him spacey. Chakotay then has to keep himself awake to avoid falling into the deep sleep the aliens have put the others into.
** In "Muse", Tuvok seems to forget how long Vulcans can go without sleep for, leading to him being sleep deprived.
** In "Lineage", B'Elanna loses sleep worrying about her unborn daughter's future and her own past. She catches up on sleep before the end of the episode, though.

* In a flashback episode of ''Series/TheDickVanDykeShow'', Rob is shown working as a radio DJ doing a promotional stunt trying to break the record for the most hours broadcasting continuously without sleep... immediately after which, it turns out, he has his important job interview to be a writer on the Alan Brady Show. Needless to say, he is so sleep deprived that he bombs the interview completely, being a weepy, rambling, incoherent sloppy mess. Fortunately, the producers recognize the situation and give him a second opportunity.

* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Cars}}'', Lightning, who really wants to be first on a trip to California, makes Mac stay up all night. This makes Mac groggy and leads to him falling asleep and losing Lightning.

* Ichico Nemuri of ''Manga/UndeadUnluck'' is the Negator Unsleep, [[TheSleepless which makes it impossible for her to sleep.]] The resulting sleep deprivation has numerous detrimental effects - shortly after receiving the power, [[spoiler:she's dazed and groggy enough to fall off a train platform, and one of her rescuers is killed by a train,]] while much later [[spoiler:the accumulated strain causes her to [[DeathByChildbirth die after giving birth to her daughter. In the 101st loop, Fuuko teaches her AstralProjection, which sends her power away with her soul, letting her body get some much-needed sleep and recover.]]

* Ichico Nemuri of [[Manga/UndeadUnluck]] is the Negator Unsleep, [[TheSleepless which makes it impossible for her to sleep.]] The resulting sleep deprivation has numerous detrimental effects - shortly after receiving the power, [[spoiler:she's dazed and groggy enough to fall off a train platform, and one of her rescuers is killed by a train,]] while much later [[spoiler:the accumulated strain causes her to [[DeathByChildbirth die after giving birth to her daughter. In the 101st loop, Fuuko teaches her AstralProjection, which sends her power away with her soul, letting her body get some much-needed sleep and recover.]]

[-[[caption-width-right:260:Tom...?]]-]

* TruthInTelevision: If you don't get sufficient sleep, it ''will'' affect your brain functions and even your physical health. It can be caused by illness such as insomnia or sleep apnea, or through a busy schedule or stress. Website/TheOtherWiki [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sleep_deprivation has the details]].
* [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fatal_insomnia Fatal Insomnia]] is a genetic condition that's as just bad as it sounds. The disease first shows up with complete insomnia and processes to hallucinations, panic attacks, dementia, and finally death. [[ParanoiaFuel There is no known cure]]. The good news (if we can call it that) is that only 40 families worldwide are known have the genetic markers for the disease, so just don't be the descendent of any of them intermarrying and you should be fine.

* Some militaries around the world train prospective recruits to endure sleep deprivation in order to get them used to it, just in case they're taken hostage. Sleep deprivation is quite a common and effective tactic in interrogations, once considered a comparatively merciful way of getting someone to talk (since it didn't ''seem'' to leave permanent damage).

* Max Damage of ''[[ComicBook/{{Irredeemable}} Incorruptible]]'' becomes increasingly [[SuperStrength strong]] and [[NighInvulnerability tough]] the longer he remains awake, and reverts to normal human levels when he sleeps. This leads him to force himself to say awake as long as possible -- unfortunately, sleep deprivation and stimulant drugs have the same mental effects on him that they do on anybody else, which tends to [[WithGreatPowerComesGreatInsanity mess up his judgment]].