ALTERED STATES OF CONSCIOUSNESS
SLEEP, DREAMS, HYPNOSIS, AND DRUGS
WHAT IS CONSCIOUSNESS?
The state of awareness of one’s feelings, sensations, ideas and perceptions.
WHAT IS AN ALTERED STATE OF CONSCIOUSNESS?
Consciousness is a continuum ranging from alertness to unconsciousness.
Altered states of consciousness include sleep, hypnosis, inebriation, daydreaming, and meditation.
SLEEP – THE MOST COMMON ALTERED STATE
Scientists are not sure exactly why we must sleep, but possibly for…
• Protection • Evolutionary – rest during the night
to avoid dangers
• Recuperation • body and brain – muscles and
neurons
• Memory • Shed unimportant info,
strengthen important info
• Growth• Growth hormone – babies sleep
more
WHAT HAPPENS AS YOU GO TO SLEEP?Your body temperature drops.
Your pulse rate drops
Your breathing becomes shallow
You will enter into 5 stages of sleep 90 minutes
STAGE 1Slowed breathing, irregular brain waves (typical of unremembered moments)
Hallucinations – sensory experiences that occur without sensory stimuli
• feeling of free falling to be awoken by a jerk
STAGE 220 minutes into sleep cycle
Periodic appearance of sleep spindles (bursts of rapid, rhythmic brain wave activity)
STAGE 3Lasts only several minutes
Begin to produce large delta waves – the large, slow brain waves associated with deep sleep
Hard to awaken
STAGE 4Combined with stage 3 to last about 30 minutes
Delta waves – deep sleep
Hard to awaken
At the end, sleepwalking or wetting the bed may occur
REM SLEEPREM sleep – rapid eye movement sleep, a recurring sleep stage during which vivid dreams commonly occur
Occurs about an hour into sleep cycles
Ascend through stages 3 and 2 from stage 4
Sharp, short brain waves – look like waves of stage 1
REM SLEEPHeart rate rises, breathing quickens and becomes irregular, eyes dart around behind the lids
Motor cortex is active, but blocks movement messages – essentially paralyzed – paradoxical sleep
Hard to awaken
Gets longer throughout the night (accounts for 20-25% of a night’s sleep)
• Easier to immediately slip into if awoken towards the morning
Hallucinatory dreams/nightmares – vivid, story-like
INSOMNIA
Recurring trouble falling/staying asleep
SLEEP APNEAFrequent cessations (stopping) of breathing in the night.
This occurs for 10-15 seconds until the increased level of CO2 triggers the breathing response – don’t remember waking up.
Those affected may be listless, sleepy and irritable during the day.
Caused by enlarged tonsils, infections or obesity
NARCOLEPSY
A condition characterized by suddenly falling into REM sleep.
Possibly an underproduction of neurotransmitters that signal alertness or problem with the reticular formation
It can be treated and controlled with medications.
NIGHT TERRORS
Occur during Stage 4 sleep
Lasts 5-25 minutes
No memories of events by the sleeper
Mainly children
DREAMSMental activity that takes place during sleep
6 yrs/lifetime
Takes place during REM sleep.
Motor cortex suppressed but the rest of the brain is active.
Lucid dreaming – awareness of dreaming while dreaming
( Pablo Picasso – The Dream)
WHY DREAM - THEORIES
To satisfy unconscious wishes (Freud)• Manifest content – the remembered storyline
of a dream• Latent content – the underlying meaning of a
dream• Unconscious drives and wishes that would be
threatening if expressed directly
Freud – dreams are the key to understanding the unconscious
Modern scientists – No proof; everyone can interpret dreams differently
WHY DREAM - THEORIES
Information processing (to file away memories)
To develop/preserve neural pathways.
Activation synthesis theory – dreams have no meaning, they are products of random neural firing in the brain
To practice flight-or-flight in a safe place
To work through difficult emotions in a safe place
HYPNOSIS
A social interaction in which one person (hypnotist) suggests to another (subject) that certain perceptions, feelings, thoughts, or behaviors will spontaneously occur
• SNL Hypnotist
Power of hypnosis lies in the subject’s openness to suggestion
CAN HYPNOSIS BE THERAPEUTIC?
Yes – has alleviated headaches, skin disorders, asthma
No – does not seem to help addictions to alcohol, drugs, or tobacco – some claims refute this
DRUGS AND ADDICTIONPsychoactive drugs – substances that alter human consciousness
• can distort perception, change moods, and cause people to see/hear things that are not real.
Addiction – craving of substance to feel normal (mental or physical)
Tolerance – needing more of the substance to produce the original effects
Withdrawal – the negative effects caused by the removal of a substance from the body.
DEPRESSANTSSlow CNS activity
• Alcohol• Intoxication = drunkenness
• Narcotics – relieve pain/induce sleep• Morphine, heroine, codeine
opium poppy plant
Withdrawal symptoms – tremors, cramps, chills, rapid heartbeat, insomnia, vomiting
STIMULANTSIncrease CNS activity
• Caffeine• Nicotine
• Spurs adrenaline
• Amphetamines (meth, cocaine, Ecstasy)
• Reduce appetite, increase alertness
Withdrawal symptoms – “crash,” depression, weight gain, headaches, insomnia
HALLUCINOGENS
Produces hallucinations (pleasure or panic; time distortions)
• Marijuana (THC)• LSD (acid)
• Unpredictable results• Flashbacks in the future
TREATMENT
Detoxification – removal of the harmful substance from the body; weaning addicts off drugs
Maintenance programs (less dangerous forms of drugs)
• Ex: Methadone for opioid abuse
Counseling
Support groups
SYSK - HYPNOSIS1. What are some characteristics of hypnosis/hypnotic state?
2. What was hypnosis first known as (term)?
3. Hypnotism is believed to be a way to tap into what?
4. What kind of state does the subject need to be in to allow the hypnotist access to the subconscious?
5. As seen from EEG studies, what kind of brain waves appear during hypnosis?
6. During hypnosis, which hemisphere of the brain appears more active? Why?
7. Describe the hypnosis technique coined "progressive relaxation and imagery."
8. Explain the association between hypnosis and the placebo effect.
9. OPINION: If hypnosis is basically the placebo effect in action, can it be considered a) a positive treatment for illnesses/addictions or b) as credible testimony in legal cases/forensic studies?
Top Related