Chronic colestites

Chronic colestites is a made-up term created by Guinness World Records to describe total insomnia. The term was first seen in the 1991 edition and was removed after the 2000 edition. It was used in the entry for sleep deprivation, which read:

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The longest recorded period for which a person has voluntarily gone without sleep is 453 hours 40 minutes by Robert McDonald of California in a rocking chair on Mar 14 to Apr 2, 1986. Victims of the very rare condition chronic colestites (total insomnia) have been known to go without definable sleep for many years. Jesus de Frutos (b. 1925) of Segovia, Spain asserts that he has only dozed since 1954.

The term befuddled many who were doing reports on sleep deprivation. To this day it is not known how the term was created.

Purported accounts of total insomnia

Vietnam man handles three decades without sleep This is featured as a question in Trivial Pursuit