With noisy cellmates, excessive lighting, and rock-hard mattresses, sleeplessness is a frequent complaint among incarcerated people. While facility conditions vary, a 2022 review found as many as 88% of incarcerated people have poor sleep quality, and up to 73% may have insomnia.
There is little research on how sleep deprivation affects cognitive functioning among incarcerated people specifically. What is well understood is how sleep deprivation generally affects the human mind, like making it hard to focus, recall details, or learn new information.
"Sleep deprivation, even in someone with normal intellectual functioning and living in a more comfortable housing situation than prison, may result in cognitive deficits similar to being drunk," said Audrey Nath, neurologist at Neuromonitoring Associates, who works with Medical Justice Alliance to advocate for appropriate neurological care among incarcerated people.
One study found sleep-deprived people were 4.5 times more likely to sign a false confession than adequately rested participants.