History Main / ExhaustionInducedIdiocy

* In "The Sleepover" episode of ''WesternAnimation/{{Bluey}}'', Muffin is seen [[GettingCrapPastTheRadar acting like a drunk]] after she skipped a sleep earlier that day.

* ''Webcomic/XKCD'' has [[https://xkcd.com/622/ this comic about sleep-deprived hallucinations]], and [[https://xkcd.com/776/ this comic about sleep-deprived irrational belief you are having sleep-deprived hallucinations]].

* The ''Barenaked Ladies'' song "Tonight is the Night I Fell Asleep at the Wheel" is about a man too exhausted to think straight trying to drive home, and getting into a fatal car accident as a direct result.

* ''Machinima/RedVsBlue'': In [[Machinima/RedVsBlueSeason15 Season 15]], Wash is completely exhausted and loopy after days of [[spoiler: being locked in his armor by Temple without receiving food or water]]. He is generally disconnected from reality during that time and says many things that he wouldn't in a clearer head. [[spoiler: This also leads to him walking out in the middle of gunfire without a care in the world, ending with him getting shot in the neck.]]

* Max Damage from ''ComicBook/{{Irredeemable}}'' and its sister series ''Incorruptible'' gets this way after spending a long time sleep deprived. [[BlessedWithSuck The worst part about it is that he needs to stay awake a really long time to become stronger.]]

#'''Delusion:''' Their thought-processes are so clouded that they end up believing things that they normally wouldn't. This can also include hallucinations an paranoia. This symptom is especially TruthInTelevision regarding SleepDeprivation.

#'''Delusion:''' Their thought-processes are so clouded that they end up believing things that they normally wouldn't. This can also include hallucinations (something that is TruthInTelevision concerning SleepDeprivation).

* ''WebVideo/SwordArtOnlineAbridged'': Unlike in [[LightNovel/SwordArtOnline canon]], [[BigBad Kayaba]]'s plan was ultimately boiled down to how sleep-deprived he was after working three weeks without so much as a wink of sleep to finish ''Sword Art Online''. The game was ChristmasRushed and he needed to get it done after already being delayed twice. Thus, he busted his ass to get it ready for release. Unfortunately, this resulted in causing a glitch that killed the players when their avatars died, and Kayaba's idea of fixing ''that'' was to pretend it was AllAccordingToPlan.

#'''Confused Logic:''' They may have all the pieces of information to work with, but their train of thought takes a detour (or several) causing a disorganized approach at logic. May result in SkewedPriorities.

#'''Forgetfulness:''' The victim fails to remember important information or even basic common sense. Things they would have very little trouble recalling if they were more alert.

* ''WebVideo/SwordArtOnlineAbridged'': Unlike in [[LightNovel/SwordArtOnline canon]], [[BigBad Kayaba]]'s plan was ultimately boiled down to how sleep-deprived he was after working three weeks without so much as a wink of sleep to finish ''Sword Art Online''. The game was ChristmasRushed and he needed to get it done after already being delayed twice. Thus, he busted his ass to get it ready for release. Unfortunately, this resulted in causing a glitch that killed the players when their avatars died, and Kayaba's idea of fixing ''that'' is to pretend it was AllAccordingToPlan.

* ''WebVideo/SwordArtOnlineAbridged'': Unlike in [[LightNovel/SwordArtOnline canon]], [[BigBad Kayaba]]'s plan was ultimately boiled down to how sleep-deprived he was after working three weeks without so much as a wink of sleep to finish ''Sword Art Online''. The game was ChristmasRushed and he needed to get it done after already being delayed twice. Thus, he busted his ass to get it ready for release. Unfortunately, this resulted in causing a glitch that killed the players when their avatars died.

** Apu once worked for four straight days at the Kwik-E-Mart without sleep. By the end of it he thought he was a hummingbird. There's videotape.

[[folder: Music Videos]]

* ''WebVideo/SwordArtOnlineAbridged'': Unlike in [[LightNovel/SwordArtOnline canon]], [[BigBad Kayaba]]'s plan was ultimately boiled down to how sleep-deprived he was after working three weeks without so much as a wink of sleep to finish ''Sword Art Online''. The game was ChristmasRushed and he needed to get it done after already being delayed twice. Thus, he busted his ass to get it ready for release. Unfortunately, this resulted in causing a glitch that killed the players when their avatars died.
-->'''Kayaba:''' Now, in this case, any ''sane'' man would simply turn off the servers before anyone else got hurt, but because you've now been awake long enough to think the government is run by "Flubar, King of the MoleMen," the best idea that comes to your mind is to double, triple, and quadruple down. So you lock everyone in the game, tell them they'll die if they don't finish it, [[IMeantToDoThat and try to make it look like this is all part of your "master plan" instead of an ever-spiraling series of events that you have long since lost control of]].

* ''WebVideo/SwordArtOnlineAbridged'': The season 1 finale, episode 11, reveals that [[spoiler:this is actually the whole reason for Kayaba's "EvilPlan". He had to work for three whole weeks with ''no sleep'' to finish the game on time due to not being allowed any more extensions after delaying it twice before. Somehow in his sleep-deprived state, he created a glitch that killed the players when their avatars died. He notes any ''sane'' person would immediately turn off the servers at this point to stop anyone else from getting hurt, but because he was so delusional from his sleep deprivation, he was more worried about the game's Metacritic score and began believing in ridiculous theories like the government being run by "[[MoleMen Flubar, King of the Mole-Men]]". So the only "solution" he can think of is to trap everyone in the game and claim they will die if they don't clear it. He actually realizes how dumb this was after getting some sleep, but by that point had trapped himself due to his poor decisions and can't actually find a way to fix it himself]].

This usually manifests in four ways:

#'''Delusion:''' Their thought-processes are so clouded that they end up believing things that they normally wouldn't. This can also include hallucinations.

These four symptoms can often overlap and may even play into others. The end result is the person acting or thinking in a way that they normally wouldn't. Usually at the cost of common sense. It can be something as small as putting salt in their coffee instead of sugar, or something major like accidentally selling off a company because they weren't paying attention.

->''"Cut me some slack, okay? Can you two even begin to imagine 500 uninterrupted hours of consciousness? Forget Mole People! About halfway through, I swore I saw the face of '''God!''' Until I realized it was just the night janitor, Reki. On the plus side, I gave him a hell of an ego boost. Man was riding that compliment for days."''

->'''Kirito:''' So, you thought that critics would be harsher on a game that killed a few people by accident, than one that killed ''thousands'' on ''purpose''?\\
'''Kayaba:''' ''[clearly embarrassed]'' [[ItSeemedLikeAGoodIdeaAtTheTime That was my thought process, yes.]]\\
'''Asuna:''' WHAT THE FUCK IS ''WRONG'' WITH YOU!?!\\
'''Kayaba:''' ''Hey!'' Cut me some slack, okay? Can you two even begin to imagine 500 uninterrupted hours of consciousness? Forget Mole People! About halfway through, I swore I saw the face of ''God!'' Until I realized it was just the night janitor, Reki. On the plus side, I gave him a hell of an ego boost. Man was riding that compliment for days.
-->-- ''WebVideo/SwordArtOnlineAbridged''

* In the music video for Music/CatHairballs, Stimpy is being used to farm hairballs via licking "fuel" off of various body parts then hwarfing the results onto a conveyor belt, where the hairballs are then stamped by Ren. Though Stimpy is high energy at first, all the licking and hwarfing proves to be extremely physically taxing. By the end, Stimpy has been completely licked clean and is completely burnt out from it all. Despite this Stimpy jumps on the conveyor belt and tries to hwarf one more time. This results in passing out on said conveyor belt and getting brutally stamped on the ass.

'''Kayaba:''' ''[clearly embarrassed]'' That was my thought process, yes.\\

Compare AlcoholInducedIdiocy, BlindedByRage, HeroicRROD, and WorfHadTheFlu. May result in TooDesperateToBePicky when someone is so hungry that they'll eat something they probably shouldn't. Contrast with HeroicBSOD and AngstComa, which result from ''emotional'' exhaustion instead.