Tommy Graves smiled broadly and did perfect somersaults, convinced he was performing for millions of viewers. In reality, the only audience were the nurses observing him in the psychiatric ward.
Now 32, Graves, from Bermondsey, ended up in a mental health unit after eight days of sleeplessness plunged him into a severe psychosis. He believed his life was being broadcast live, much like the film The Truman Show, where Jim Carrey's character lives his life unaware that every moment of it is being shown on television.
“My family sent me in an ambulance because they realized something was wrong,” he says. “I was speaking fluently, but I didn’t make sense. I had plans to end racism, sexism, wars, even to cure cancer. I didn’t know where I was anymore – I thought I was in a television studio.”
The lack of sleep began while preparing a charity project to raise funds for the homeless. The enthusiasm quickly turned to stress, the ideas became increasingly extreme and the brain never “fixed”. “By the sixth day without sleep, the idea had gone from raising 100 pounds to 66 million,” he says. Shortly after, he was hospitalized.
Graves spent four weeks in a mental health facility. Convinced that cameras were filming him, he sang, danced, did somersaults and tried to entertain the “audience,” thinking he would win an Oscar. Only after treatment did he manage to sleep. Doctors diagnosed him with a manic episode with psychosis, caused by severe stress and extreme sleep deprivation.
“I was completely disconnected from reality,” he says. “I was hearing, seeing, and believing things that weren’t real. It was only after they put me to sleep with medication that I slowly began to come back to the real world.”
When he left the hospital a month later, his life was in shambles, and he realized that without regular sleep he risked losing touch with reality again. “The doctor told me that if I didn’t learn to sleep properly, I could lose my mind again,” he explains.
He spent the next two years learning how to improve his sleep. In April 2025, he qualified as a sleep coach. Today, he adheres to a fixed bedtime and wake-up schedule, avoids late nights and organizes workshops for businesses and communities, promoting the idea that having a consistent sleep schedule should be “cool.”
He warns about what he calls “social jet lag” on weekends – the transition from late nights to early mornings – which creates a cycle of chronic fatigue. “About one in three people suffer from insomnia. A consistent sleep and wake schedule is the most important thing you can do,” he says.
Experts point out that poor sleep is linked to many health problems, from cardiovascular disease to mental health disorders. Although waking up during the night does not necessarily mean insomnia, basic advice includes regular schedules, physical activity during the day and a quiet environment for sleep.
Graves' story is a stark reminder that lack of sleep isn't just fatigue - it can be a serious risk to mental health and life. /GazetaExpress/
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