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Occupy D.C. Members on 'Sleep Strike,' Doctor Calls It 'Distinctly Unhealthy'

02.02.2012_sleepstrike.jpg
Thomas Reges, left, and Ricky Lehner, right, haven't slept since Monday.

Why go hungry when you can stay awake?

Yesterday, the Examiner's Aubrey Whelan took note of two members of Occupy D.C. who, in a protest of the National Park Service's recent decision to begin enforcing the ban on camping in McPherson Square—which includes a prohibition on slumbering in the park—decided to go on a "sleep strike."

That's right. Since about noon on Monday, when the enforcement regime officially went into effect, two demonstrators, Thomas Reges and Ricky Lehner decided that the best way to prove to NPS and U.S. Park Police that sleeping in public spaces is a vital and expressive part of the Occupy Wall Street movement was to forego sleep entirely.

When I spoke with them Wednesday afternoon, they had been awake for about 54 hours.

"It's like we have energy," Reges said. "Just kind of ache."

The Park Service, in applying its rules against camping in the square, mentioned the health and safety of the protesters as Occupy D.C. enters its fifth month. So, in response, Reges and Lehner are doing something that is well, quite unhealthy, a fact they readily acknowledge.

"We're going to need chaperones," Reges said. He and Lehner have gone on a low-sugar diet during this latest round of Occupy-inspired self-deprivation. Few carbohydrates, but a lot of stimulants. Sitting outside Cosi at 15th and K streets across from McPherson Square, Lehner drained an iced coffee while Reges rolled a cigarette.

A nurse they consulted, said Lehner, who's also a smoker, told them that if they insisted on going without sleep, they not try to quit smoking at the same time.

"Nicotine's a stimulant, so it's helping," he said.

But more than two days into this venture, Reges and Lehner were already feeling the effects. They caught a break with this week's unseasonably warm weather—it's easier to stay awake while basking in the warm, 70-degree sunlight than while shivering in the cold. Still, both were twitchy in their seats. Reges said he could see me across the table without any difficulty, but the streets, storefronts and McPherson's tent city were blurred together. Lehner said he occasionally lapses into a dream-like state before remembering he's supposed to be staying awake. They try to stave off the somnambulism by keeping active, but some past-time's are more soporific than others. Kicking a soccer ball works, but playing Scrabble nearly prompted Lehner to doze off.

Reges and Lehner were being minded by Sam Jewler, who late last year embarked on an 11-day hunger strike as a protest against the District's lack of a vote in Congress. During his self-inflicted ordeal, Jewler was aided through his days by a cadre of fellow protesters who were themselves nourished. Over those 11 days, Jewler became frail, sickly and lethargic—but he slept a lot. Reges and Lehner are eating plenty, but on no sleep, they need some help. Assisting the them, Jewler said, is his way of paying it forward.

The Guinness Book of World Records lists the longest period without sleep at 264 hours, set in 1964 by a California teenager named Randy Gardner. The doctors who monitored Gardner's feat reported him experiencing paranoia, memory loss, lack of concentration and even delusions of winning the Rose Bowl.

Should Reges and Lehner keep their protest up, they should expect to endure something similar, said a local sleep specialist.

"It is distinctly unhealthy," said Dr. Helene Emsellem, who runs the Center for Sleep & Wake Disorders in Chevy Chase, Md. "It's a huge, overwhelming stress to the entire system."

Emsellem, who is also an associate professor of neurology at George Washington University Medical Center and is also on the staff of Suburban Hospital in Bethesda, said that Reges and Lehner, despite being otherwise healthy young men, should expect some difficulty with their mental acuity, judgment and motor skills. Going without sleep for this long could also expose more severe effects, especially if they have any underlying risks for heart disease, bipolar disorder or manic-depressiveness.

"The ability to maintain a nice easy balance diminishes," Emsellem said.

Not that Reges and Lehner are stopping any time soon. This morning they completed the third day, which Emsellem said is a kind of breaking point for the human body.



And just like the hunger strikers before them, Reges and Lehner are attempting to recruit "solidarity strikers" to join them in their continuously wakened states. When I remarked to them that it's a lot more fun to stay up all night than to not eat all day, they turned back to the standard Occupy line that camping is part of the message. There's even a "no-slumber party" planned for this Friday.

Self-deprivation of any kind comes with risks, but what Reges and Lehner are doing seems even more dangerous than the December hunger strike. Jewler regained his energy a few days after breaking his fast and has since regained most of the weight he lost during it. Emsellem said that the effects of what Reges and Lehner are putting themselves through could take days, even weeks to shake off.

"I suggest they get some sleep," she said.

Contact the author of this article or email tips@dcist.com with further questions, comments or tips.
By Benjamin R. Freed in on February 2, 2012 12:30 PM 0 Comments

Comments [rss]

  • Shiba Fussa

    I'm sorry but the rest of the 99% aren't this stupid (semi-cutting off a penis, semi-hunger strike with vitamin water, going w/o sleep) please stop trying to represent me.

  • hfshsf

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  • this is good be a good person on this earth .that's why people forget there way of living in this world.
    http://b2bmarketinglists.co.uk...

  • I don't think there are any Occupy protestors anymore. They're down to homeless people and animals that are attracted to flames.

  • DrivingCat

    DC has an Occupy contingent? I hadn't heard of it

  • ladyeggplant

    "Assisting the them, Jewler said, is his way of paying it forward."

    Excuse me?

  • Newhce

    Nice thread everyone!

  • SWDC

     Records: Cop injured in Occupy D.C. fray vomited
    12/23/2011

    WASHINGTON (AP) - Court documents say a U.S. Park Police officer
    kicked in the groin during a fight at the Occupy DC encampment was in so
    much pain he vomited at the scene.

    Authorities have charged James D. Ruffin with assaulting a police
    officer and assault with a dangerous weapon. He was ordered held until a
    court appearance Tuesday.

    Court documents say the fight at McPherson Square on Thursday began
    after Park Police officers responded to a report of a man assaulting a
    woman inside a tent.

    Authorities say Ruffin, of Sandy Springs, Ga., refused to present
    identification and then fought with officers as they tried to place him
    inside a police cruiser. Police at one point used a stun gun to subdue
    Ruffin. His lawyer declined to comment on the charges. wtop.com

  • ex-14thandYou

    So, what I take from this is that the occupiers are becoming the David Blaine of protesters.

  • TripleE78

    Speaking of this, when is Spike opening his new Elizabethan themed colonic shop, De-Stink Thee, Unhealthy! I hear he signed up Poopy as his first celebrity client. 

    And Rick Mangus will be there for the ribbon cutting!

  • Now they're occupying stupidity.

  • slim_pickens

    "One thing that's really fun to make when you're really f*cked up is big decisions." Sarah Silverman
    https://twitter.com/#!/SarahKS... 

    This applies to a lack of sleep, too. Maybe they'll decide to try base-jumping or swimming in the Anacostia.

  • CJ_Scudworth

    Or sign up for "How About We..."

  • sat3911

    I am disgusted that our government is trying to break these people through sleep depravation.  This is the kind of tactic the VietCong used to get POWs to admit to anything.  Once the government gets them to a week, they will be completely broken and ready to agree to anything, including admiting the remaining Occupy movement has become dumb.

  • Guest

    And other ways too:

    http://www.avforums.com/movies... 

  • CJ_Scudworth

    Kilgore: We'll take our stuff to the nearest coffee shop that has free wi-fi so we can surf the web. This is ODC, Occupy DC, son, Web 2.0 and all that shit. I can hold down a table at any Starbucks, Caribou, or Cosi and you can post to your blog or Twitter for as long as you like, man. Hell, look at that upload speed!

    You hike back to McPherson--Mike, take Lance with you--let him pick out a laptop, and grab my MacBook, the MacBook Air.

    Mike: I don't know, sir, it's--it's--"

    Kilgore: What is it, soldier?

    Mike: It's pretty hairy in there. It's Charlie's Cosi--

    Kilgore: Charlie don't surf!

  • knackers

    Someday this occupation's gonna end...

  • Shiba Fussa

    Take a pair of scissors down there and try and take em down

  • knackers

    [cue The Doors...]

  • SWDC

     "...Ricky Lehner, a recent college graduate who arrived in Washington from Florida this week to stay indefinitely..." from 'Occupy movement drives stakes on K Street' Thursday, October 20th, 2011

    "Occupy D.C. participant Thomas Reges, aged 26, grew up in Michigan.
    Reges studied to be a translator for the deaf, but he has been unable to
    find a stable job, despite looking for employment around the country.
    Here, Reges talks about unemployment, as well as the collapsing
    expectations of many young people around America." from "Thomas Reges, Washington, D.C., District of Columbia" December 13, 2011

    Question: How are they affording to live in D.C. exactly?  Understand free toilets provided by D.C. 

  • TripleE78

     If they were here for the free toilets, they'd be on H St NE.

  • SWDC

     "They have no money"

    Paul Bedard of US News and World Report wrote Tuesday that American taxpayers are footing the bill for 17 bright blue portable toilets from Don's Johns used by Occupy DC protesters.

    Taxpayers on the hook for Occupy DC porta-potties

    Bedard reports:

    America's taxpayers, already on the hook for watching
    over the Occupy movement's three-month seizure of Washington's downtown
    McPherson Square, are getting stuck with another bill to cover the
    police protection and port-a-potty rentals at today's Capitol protest.

    Although the Architect of the Capitol would not comment on the cost of the toilets, Don's Johns said the 17 toilets cost $2,100.

    The toilets were placed "in the shadow of the Ulysses S. Grant Memorial."

    "I can't believe we're paying for this. But they have no money. They
    were complaining about parking prices," one Capitol Police officer told
    US News and World Report.

    Hundreds showed up Tuesday to "Occupy Congress" out of frustration
    with the involvment of corporate money in politics.  Organizers had
    hoped for thousands, but only about 500 participated.

    Noting that the Occupy Wall Street movement is becoming strapped for cash, Rick Moran writes at the American Thinker:

    It's not the amount of tax dollars being expended as much
    as it is the nauseating expectations of the protestors that someone -
    the government, their parents, you - will take care of them. Enough
    already. Stand on your own two feet or clear out. The sideshow has lost
    its appeal and you should either pay the price of admission or move on
    to the next act.Taxpayers on the hook for Occupy DC porta-potties January 18, 2012 examiner.comQuestion: How are they affording to live in D.C. exactly?  Understand free toilets provided by D.C.

  • TRexSpots

    This poorly-sourced article is wrong. The porta-potties for Occupy Congress were donated by a labor union. The ones at McPherson are also paid for by a union.

  • SWDC

     Taxpayers on Hook for D.C. Protester's Potties
    usnews.com

    Report Claims Taxpayers on Hook for Occupy D.C. Porta Potties
    theblaze.com

    US TAXPAYERS Stuck With Port-a-Potty Bill From Yesterday’s #Occupy DC Protest
    thegatewaypundit.com

    Good Grief! Taxpayers Foot the Bill for Occupiers’ Port-A-Potties
    http://lonelyconservative.com/

    Taxpayers supporting 'Occupy DC' protests

    No doubt the protestors think this right and just; that the American
    taxpayer should subsidize their protest against greedy corporations.
    Their sense of entitlement is limitless and extends beyond the Occupy
    movement into their daily lives as citizens.

    We
    see it in city after city; extra police presence at the Occupy sites to
    make sure the protestors don't go off half cocked and start busting
    windows and blocking traffic. Hooking up electricity so that they can
    run their iPads and Macs. Supplying porto-johns for sanitation, which
    matters not to many of them who urinate and defecate wherever they wish.

    The
    entire panoply of taxpayer funded services and goodies that the Occupy
    crowd enjoys seems to me to reduce the effectiveness of their protest.
    With donations drying up
    as the movement dies, the hard core who are left now seem more to be
    throwing a tantrum rather than desiring any change that is realistic or
    even beneficial...
    Read more: http://www.americanthinker.com...

    Occupy Wall Street: Gray wants federal government to pay for D.C. protests

    By ASSOCIATED PRESS | 12/16/11 10:33 AM EST

    WASHINGTON (AP) — D.C. Mayor Vincent Gray is planning to ask the
    federal government to reimburse the city for costs related to the Occupy
    protests.Gray on Thursday told NewsChannel 8 that the protesters
    in McPherson Square and Freedom Plaza have cost the city $1.6 million
    since October. He says the city has a budget for protests but doesn't
    have "this kind of money."...

    Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/s...

  • TripleE78

    You must be new here.

  • SWDC

     

    http://www.flickr.com/photos/b... ambulance in Opuwo

    Bicycle ambulance with volunteers from Red Cross in Opuwo (2007).

  • SWDC

     Sockpuppet no reply button so response here:

    "The cars were purchased more than three years ago, yet they have not yet found their way to the city that paid for them.

    ...While all the details about contractors and operators are worked
    out in D.C., the streetcars continue to roll around streets of the Czech
    Republic.


    They were built and are being maintained by a company named
    Skoda-Inekon, which specializes in streetcars. Skoda-Inekon manufactures
    streetcars in Plzen, in the Czech Republic. The company has produced
    similar vehicles for Portland, Ore. and Tacoma, Wash.


    The cars are not picking up passengers, but they do have to be taken out from time to time so that they are maintained.


    "They need to get a workout," says Moneme.

    "They are tested on a pretty regular basis."


    Moneme has been a big supporter of the streetcar program in D.C.,
    and says he would love to have the rail cars in the city by the summer...

    Until then, D.C.'s streetcars will continue to get a workout in the Czech Republic."

    From WTOP article: 
    D.C. streetcars roll in Czech Republic dated 4/24/2008

  • SockPuppet

    Real help

  • SWDC

     http://www.flickr.com/photos/b...

    Meme Gundrum testing a prototype bicycle ambulance


    This was the first prototype of a bicycle ambulance developed in 2005

  • mirrorballdc

    I hear that after staying up for a few days, you start to think there are actually living groundhogs running around Dupont Circle, and that they can predict the weather. 

  • CJ_Scudworth

    Hey, the guy in the hat is cheating! That's totally microsleep.

  • PedanticMFr

    If they can't master Lagophthalmos, we might be able to help:

    http://blog.onlineclock.net/wp... 

    BTW: Happy 40th Kubrick's 'Clockwork'!

  • Morley1

    In solidarity, I will be engaging in a sleep strike for the next 10 hours, unless I get tired before then.

  • slim_pickens

    It starts after this 1pm meeting.

  • Guest

    Damn you Disqus!

    Fuck!

  • Guest

    You guys never show pictures of the Washington Post, The City Paper, etc when referencing them in a story, but you paste a bunch of tweets "regularly". If I wanted to read tweets I would go to Twitter. I think this is sloppy.

  • Benjamin Freed

    Maybe if you actually used that Twitter account we'd embed your 140-character musings, too.

  • Guest

    Thanks Ben, count me in. I'll go try to cut down the tent of screams while tweeting.

  • DCTransplant

    Why are you two acting like the Stepford Wives?

    http://thecia.com.au/reviews/s...

  • JC

    Self-immolate or GTFO!

  • PedanticMFr

    I'm actually kinda surprised this hasn't happened yet. You're telling in over 4 months there isn't one imbalanced suicidal martyr in the group? Color me shocked!

  • hollowsquare

    If only.  I'd bring the popcorn.

  • TripleE78

     Or maybe there was. Why do you think the rats got so big?  No reason to visit the Cooch when you can eat hippies.  Of course, they just make you more hungry.

  • TripleE78

     I do that every time I eat at Ben's.

  • hollowsquare

    My point exactly.

  • Rukasu

    Homeboy in black looks like he's sleeping in the pic...cheater
     
    Also, you'd have less income inequality if you didn't blow your money on smokes and overpriced coffee, jus sayin is all

  • JC

    Sleeping or not, he's sporting the same self-satisfied shit-eating grin as his comrades.

  • DCTransplant
  • PedanticMFr

    IT'S LIKE I'M LOOKING IN A MIRROR!
    http://blogs.voices.com/voxdai... 

  • Ollie Pooeater

     Good thing you mentioned it was a mirror.

  • PedanticMFr
  • slim_pickens

    Get a honeymoon suite!

  • they look cracked out

  • DCTransplant

    Pardon me while I go slit my wrist with a dull swiss army knife.

  • Pete_eats

    You know who else used a dull swiss army knife?

    http://www.wornmagazine.com/wp...

  • This was Martin's plan all along: 24-hour Occupy coverage until readers beg to be put out of their misery. In swoops Martin with his Swiss Army knives. Does "The Swiss Bastard" know his readership or what?

  • Ollie Pooeater

    I propose a DCist 72 hour Meme protest.

    I don't know what that means, but I'm sure no one will care.*

    *Get it Occupy?

  • slim_pickens

    And I'll chop off my arm with my almost useless Leatherman. 

  • My Leatherman is still quite useful. Much more so than any Occupy protestor.

  • Guest

    If you did that and I worked for Apple Computer, I would ignore your screams.

  • slim_pickens

    Not if I was wearing yoga pants.

  • ms_last_minute

    I am still waiting on my pair that says "Please...oh god...please" on the backside. 

  • slim_pickens

    By saying that, you may have just signed up for CustomInk's distribution list. Their unsubscribe feature appears to be broken.

  • Guest

    You have me there. And I've included a photo to show others why.

  • hollowsquare

    Yawn, another day another stupid occupy stunt.  Get back to me when they do something interesting like this.  I'll be delighted to pay attention and watch then.  #occudie

    http://upload.wikimedia.org/wi...

  • reporteratlarge

    I give them points for having nerve.

    I've heard that people start to hallucinate after a few days without sleep. A week without sleep can really unhinge someone. 

    Remember the TAL story about the contest to win a truck? People had to stand next to it with their hand on it. http://www.thisamericanlife.or...

  • CJ_Scudworth

    And that Star Trek TNG episode where nobody could sleep because of an alien SOS signal and Riker saw snakes in his bed.

  • Worst.  Episode. Ever.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v... 

  • SpeakSoftlyCarryABigStick

    Hydrogen!  "One moon circles;" The answer was hydrogen!

  • WHERRRRRE ARRRRRE YOUUUUU?!

  • The ultimate endgame involves one of them having a major freak-out and injuring themselves. At which point, they turn around and sue the city for negligence in not saving them from themselves. The District has always been an ATM machine when it comes to settling protestor lawsuits.

  • Pete_eats

    ATM Machine (n): A machine for making ATM's. #fakeAPstyleguide

  • Sakoku

    to go along with their bath, shave and make sense strike.

  • Photographed we see the wifi-leeching hobo (vagranticus parasiticus Americanus) in his natural habitat. Deprived of sleep and menaced by "coffee demons" and delusional paranoia, they will begin devolving into a feral state and emerge from their cocoons handing out Lyndon Larouche pamphlets and ranting about the House of Windsor, Henry Kissinger, and water fluoridation.

  • SockPuppet

    What? We're getting our water from Florida now?!?

  • DCTransplant

    I'm impressed that they still support big corporate greed by purchasing those $5 refreshing beverages.

  • TheRuralJuror

    And their $2,000 laptops.

  • Guest

    Occupy D.C. Members on 'Sleep Strike,' Doctor Calls It 'Distinktly Unhealthy'

  • Benjamin Freed

    And circle gets the square.

  • Guess they won't be Vikings anymore.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v... 

  • Okay, so these guys are dumbasses.  Why give them more screen time?

  • ms_last_minute

    At least it didnt say, "I came." 

  • CJ_Scudworth

    Why don't they just sleep in shifts off-site? Oh, right, that would disprove the idea that sleeping in public spaces is vital to self-expression.

  • slim_pickens

    Can they not nap at Cosi? And why the hell are they at Cosi anyway? So they can charge their technology? This is so dumb.

  • Remember when Cosi Revolution opened for The Dismemberment Band? Wow, did they f**king suck or what?

  • SockPuppet

    They haven't even started.

  • Ollie Pooeater

    I used to play Cosi Revolution at the arcade. Sure the Asian kids were better at it, but when I zoned I could really burn some calories.

  • slim_pickens

    I need to take a walk.

  • You know what's even more unhealthy? Sleeping barefoot in a rat-infested park under a Dream Tarp.

  • TheRuralJuror

    I call bullshit.  These douches are totally sneaking in naps here and there.  Looks like more of a hygiene strike to me.

  • JC

    Difficulties with mental acuity and judgment?  Paranoia?  Delusions?  In other words, Tuesday afternoon at the Occupy camp.  

  • They certainly are running out of things to not do. They haven't moved. They tried not eating and that didn't work. Now they're not sleeping. I can only assume they haven't bathed this year. What's left? Are they going to rachet up the pressure and not breathe while stamping their little feet? Sit on the potty and refuse to poo? I thought they were supposed to be activating the urban core with a vibrant brand of urbanism? How are they going to accomplish this by abusing Immodium?

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