ALTERED STATES OF CONSCIOUSNESS SLEEP DREAMS HYPNOSIS AND

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 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 1 Slowed 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 2 20 minutes into sleep cycle Periodic appearance of sleep spindles (bursts of rapid, rhythmic brain wave activity)

STAGE 3 Lasts only several minutes Begin to produce large delta waves – the large, slow brain waves associated with deep sleep Hard to awaken

STAGE 4 Combined 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 SLEEP REM 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 SLEEP Heart 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 APNEA Frequent cessations (stopping) of breathing in the night. This occurs for 10 -15 seconds until the increased level of CO 2 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

DREAMS Mental 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 ADDICTION Psychoactive 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.

DEPRESSANTS Slow 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

STIMULANTS Increase 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 HYPNOSIS What are some characteristics of hypnosis/hypnotic state? 1. 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?