IamA 23yr male that completed a 32 day sleep study and got paid ~9k

32 days cutoff from the outside world for 9 grand? Sign me up for 2 months.

i know right?

How did they approach you?

they didnt. i found them on craiglist after looking at ways to make money. after that they screened me for 3 weeks and then i started.

that sounds sketchy as fuck... were you not concerned?

top 10 hospital in the country. not concerned =)

Cool. Were there any qualifications or qualities they were looking for? Or just your average dude?

23-30, healthy, no mental issues or history. i also had to maintain a regular sleep schedule for a few weeks prior to starting.

Alternate (and slightly more boring) beginning to 28 days later...

LMAO. Wayyyyy more boring..

So, did they ever catch you masturbating?

Funny story. They have cameras everywhere except for the bathroom. At first my goal was to not fap. After what I think were the first 15 days I realized this was not possible. What I forgot was that I constantly have an electrode measuring my heart rate. So yea, I fapped in the bathroom, I wasn't caught but they knew.

To be honest they probably expected it.

True

The study was actually about how long you could go without fapping. The sleep study part was just a ruse.

Mind. Blown.

Did they explicitly said you weren't allowed to fap in 'public'? What would have happened if you just did it out in public?

There was no explanation of the fapping rules. I feel like the women on the staff wouldn't appreciate it.

But the men would?

They would understand. They would.

How did you combat your primal urge to play a solo on the skin flute?

i caved at what i think was day 15.

Felt like 15, but it was actually on the 2nd day

True facts.

was it worth the 9k?

Yes!

Ha, I remember all those wires from my sleep study for narcolepsy. What a great way to make sure you absolutely don't sleep in your normal fashion, right?

So did you do the study on site or at your own home? What did you do all day long? Any access to sunlight?

it was on site and i read a lot of books as well as hung with all the medical staff. there was no sunlight and they kept me at approximately 4 lux when i was awake, no light when i was sleeping.

You said that "regular life is 90 lux". I don't know what the heck is a lux, but is 4.5% of the regular amount of light enough for you to read?

Oddly it is! And I'm surprised you're the first to ask this. Your eyes adjust and there is no risk to your eyes. The staff have issues adjusting when they would come in to see me.

I have another question if you don't mind. Did they have special TVs (for movies) that had a backlight that didn't exceed 4 lux?

No they adjust the brightness and measure it with a weird device

What did you do while you were there?

I read over 20 books and got to hang out with the study staff a bunch. i also learned a little bit of piano and they do let you watch pre-approved movies.

Were the movies dimmed too?

Yes. They have a weird contraption used to measure the light levels

Wouldn't watching movies be a form of keeping track of the time?

the dvd timer was taped black. also if you dont know the start time its hard to figure that out. i mean i did know that time was passing so knowing that a movie was 2 hours wasnt that helpful.

Why did they have to be pre-approved?

So that I would not get overly excited and produce anxiety hormones. That affects sleep.

If they offered you $108k but you had to do a whole year, would you?

Umm. Probably not. Double it and make it tax free. Now were talking.

So what was it about? No clocks and just see what natural cycle you'd end up in?

sorta. its so that my sleep cycle would be independent from me knowing that it was day or night. after i was done i found out they kept me up for 13 hours and then i slept for 6. so i was not on a 24 hr clock and sometimes i would be wide awake in the middle of the night and not know it. they also controlled the amount of light i got (about 4 lux) so that would not affect my cycle either.

Aside from the weirdness of not knowing what time it was, were there any weird effects? Not being able to sleep or being sleepy too soon?

since i was not on a 24 hr schedule my bodies regular rhythm was off. i would be awake when my body thought it should sleep so i was super sleepy. but sometimes i would be awake when my body thought i should be and then i was awesome.

So I'm guessing that the room you were in had no windows. Were you confined to the room for the entire month?

Yes and yea. the ceiling was a big light fixture they could control completely

Say you wanted to get some cool breeze on you. Take a cold shower in the middle of the day or whatever. Did you have access to a fan, control the temperature somewhat?

No I could only take scheduled shower because it was a long process to put on all the electrodes. I could ask them to change the temperature though.

Referring to your previous post about masturbation, why didn't you just jerk it in the shower?

In between the tests they administer I have to take off the electrodes take a shower and put them back on (this takes a long time). I was in a huge rush to do this before the next test would come up.

Fuck. I would go crazy. Somedays I'm just hot and need to cool down by dipping my head in the shower and drinking large amounts of cold water.

this would be torture.

One day I got a rash due to the gel they used for the electrodes. It was terrible. But then they switched it and I got better.

How did the month without any outside contact effect you?

I was relatively OK. It was probably harder for my gf to deal with it. While I did not have access to people on the outside I was around people all the time. There were people whose job it was to sit with me a few hours everyday to keep me company and make sure I stayed awake. I also had a bunch of test per day and met with a psychologist and nurse very frequently.

Did you have access to the internet?

No because there was no way to do that without guaranteeing i would not see the time.

Why couldn't you know the time? And what was this whole study for?

so that my circadian rhythm wasn't affected by me knowing that i should or should not be asleep. the study was to find out what sleep schedule affected performance on cognitive test. i was on 13 hours awake 6 asleep but others where on 13 awake 4 asleep. while others where on a schedule closer to 24hrs

Doesn't that make it a whole lot weirder? Like I would feel like I was living a whole different life if I never knew the time. Wasn't it hard to adjust to it and then readjust back?

It was hard at first. But after a few wake sleep cycles I was like fuck time it doesn't make sense anymore. When I got out time was fine. Texting was weird though.

Why did texting make a difference?

It didn't it was just weird to talk to people I knew/use a phone e.

Wait, why was texting weird?

Because I was able to talk to people outside of the study in real time again. I was able to get letters that were given to me delayed so I wouldn't know when they were written.

Did the staff come in at what you perceived as regular intervals? Meaning, were you able to at least somewhat grasp the timeline of ~1 day with each visit from these researchers? Better yet, maybe even pick up a few clues while chit-chatting. (e.g. "I had dinner with my family last night" --> you: today must be a new day)

Yes everything was at regular intervals but i was not sleeping based on a 24 hour schedule. i had roughly 47 sleep wake cycles so i t was hard to tell using that. the staff are trained to not talk to you about anything to do with time.

Did you get any computer/laptop to read something/probram or do whatever you can? Books? Something to do at all?

books and movies. no laptops.

Favorite movie and favorite book from the time of the study?

i read Xstatix and watched the john adams series with paul giamatti. both i would not have watched before the boredome but both are awesome!

Did they randomize the time of day they kept you company? Also, why would they try to keep you awake? Wouldn't the point be to see when you fell asleep naturally?

no the point was to see how i performed in test based on the sleep cycle i was in. so i was awake 13 hours asleep for 6 so my "night" and "day" would switch every few days. some days i was super sleepy and others i was wide awake depending on what my body thought i should be doing. some days i would do good on the test others i did not. they kept me company a few hours before i would sleep which gave me no indications of when that actually was.

What is the craziest thing you did due to boredom?

I counted how many seconds between each IV drip (i was hooked up all the time for fluids and blood samples) and then calculated how long it took them to replace the IV to estimate how long i was there. i was pretty accurate =)

How is counting seconds in between drips and the time it takes to replace an IV used to determine your length of stay?

It helped me determine the length of my sleep wake cycle and I kept track of how many I had.

Given how much time you were investing in all of this, didn't you feel a little bad trying to keep time in some ways? Did you ever tell them?

I didn't feel bad because it kept me sane

How bad was it? Were there moments of desperation where you had to get out of there?

no but there were days when all i wanted was to sleep. that was the hardest, being sleepy is the worst.

Are they hiring?

All the time. I live in a city with lots of research hospital so it was prob easier for me to find.

What term would we google to find a study like this?

"Sleep study in 'insert city'" worked for me!

Hmmm. That got me a bunch of hits for sleep studies where you're a patient, not a participant. Adding "volunteer" didn't help because I want to get paid.

not many hospitals have it. like i said i live in a well funded city. these are expensive trials.

What entertainment were you allowed? Books, movies? Could I bring a guitar?

Sounds kinda like private jail but with better food and pay.

Sign me the hell up!

yes you can bring all those things!

What was your favourite moment in there? Was the experience at all fun (having time to read etc.) or were you just in it for the money?

my favorite moment was when one of the staff who i was teaching how to play chess beat me! i was pretty sleepy, but i was happy that i finally had some competition. the staff was overall pretty cool and it was nice to disconnect from the world for a bit.

How did you get food or supplies? Could you opt out at any time?

They provided me with enough food to maintain my weight. They had a staff of dietician that would prepare my food. I could opt out whenever and they were really cool about making sure I knew this.

What kind of food?

low salt diet. regular food though, just plain. a day would go like this: hard boiled eggs yogurt toast for breakfast, chicken sandwich with pudding and salad for lunch. pasta and meatballs for dinner.

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None. For four week before hand as well.

What were the terms of this agreement? Like if you decided to opt out 15 days in, would you get paid partially? Or would you not get paid at all?

Yes I would get partial payment and i would not get the bonuses for completing the study. these were very substantial.

What was the bonus?

Like 2-3k of the final amount

How did you adjust afterwards? Was your sleep schedule off in any way?

my schedule was weird for like 3 days. but i gave a lot of blood and was sedentary for a long time so my body was weak. the gym was hard on me. i went out the following week and puked after 4 shots of tequila ( i can usually handle 8-12 before i puke if im going hard)

Would you do it again?

if i had the time and needed the money i would.

How'd you get the time for this one?

i quit my job.

Was it worth it?

Quitting my job? Yea! I got a much better one after the study.

What do you do now and what did you do before?

I worked at the hospital that I did the study at. I was part of a team doing research on people with CAD and history of MI. Now I work a corporate job that is challenging and offers me room for growth.

How much interaction did you have with the medics while you were there? Also, did they bring you meals at regular times or only when you asked for it?

"regular times" is relative because they could have woken me up at 3 am and given me breakfast. I got three meals a day in between the testing. i got to interact with the staff all the time. they were great!

Were you able to figure out the time of day by reading the staff's demeanor? What I mean is, if they sent someone with food or to hang out with you (and it was 3-4 in the morning) could you tell if they were sleepy or that kind of thing?

Maybe im just going way too deep down the rabbit hole...

They were always sleepy. They had terrible schedules

How selective was the application process?

you need to be healthy and not have any history of psychological disorders in your family. i told my psychologist my sister was depressed at one point and he was going to disqualify me because he thought i meant clinically depressed. i just meant she was sad after her BF broke up with her.

Woah haha didn't think that was such a big deal

yea he was worried the sleep study could trigger the depression "gene" in me.

Where were you, actually? Was it just a hospital room where they bkacked out the windows and locked the door, or somewhere purpose built for this?

I've heard of experiments where they put people in caves for a sleep study. that would be a lot harder to deal with.

yea it was built for this. they have a ceiling covered in lights that they can control and set to whatever "lux" they want.

very interesting AMA. So at the end of the study, did they tell you what times you actually slept or no? Like were you sleeping 6 hours during the day or was it mostly at night?

It varied because of the 19 hour day. One day I would wake up at 8 am be awake for 13 hours sleep at 9 pm and then Wake back up at 3 am. See what I'm saying?

How often were you able to exercise? Did you get the opportunity to go outside often?

i was never aloud to go outside or exercise. they did not want this to affect my circadian rhythm.

Is that 9K pre or post Taxes? How much in taxes did you end up paying?

Pre. Like 1.5k.

I am doing this as part of my University course next year, but only for 3 days and sleeping in tent in a secluded area. What advice would you give?

Another question; what did you do to keep yourself entertained?

slowly weaned yourself off internet and phone before you get there. also have fun and try to interact with the staff as much as possible. they are the ones that keep you going. I read all the books and played chess with the staff sometimes. also when sleepy do not take it out on the staff.

When it was over did were u surprised how long/short you were there?

I was surprised when I was done because I was so used to being there and when they turned the light back on I realized how weird the last month was. But it felt really long. Especially on the days I was sleepy.

How are your normal sleep habits? Did that have any effect on the study or your acceptance into it? I tried to participate in a sleep study years ago but I didn't make it past the pre-screening because my sleep habits were too irregular.

for a few weeks before they made me sleep 9 hours a day everyday and had me wear a sleep watch. so for my study it wasnt necessary but i could see how other trials might dq you.

How long after you finished did they give you the money? What did you do with the money?

3 weeks. I payed for my living expenses for 5 months, renewed my gym membership got some Omaha steaks. I was really worried about running out before getting a new job.

Could you listen to music?

Pre approve music

Did you have access at a computer? As an IT guy no computers would drive me crazy. I could get pretty good at ksp in that time.

Nope

Was not having sleep apnea the only credentials needed? How did you get the job?

overall healthy. no mental issues.

Did they allow you to move around? Also what did they feed you?

I was able to move around but i was pretty much on a leash with all the wires on me all the time. they feed me a low salt diet that maintained my weight the whole time i was there. it was plain but i didnt mind it.

So they were trying to turn you into Gollum from Lord of the Rings? ;)

Yes. Yes they were.....my precious.

Was this out of the norm or do you have allot of alone time?

out of the norm

What would you do without you know... smart phones, and TV etc.? Did you go a little crazy or did they have things for you to do in all that free time?

I did have a tv to watch some pre-approved movies. but i did get bored sometimes.

were you competing with any other applicants for the position?

no. there are not that many people willing to do this for this long of a time. most people do studies for a week or two.