Altered States of Consciousness

Lesson 7-1

Objectives

• Describe the research related to sleep and dreams

• List and discuss sleep disorders

Bell Ringer

• Close your eyes and concentrate on listening to your heartbeat for the next minute.

• Did you enter an altered state of consciousness?

Bell Ringer

• What would be lost and gained if the need for sleep were eliminated?

Opening

• Read excerpt on losing sleep p. 183

Sleep

• How important is sleep to humans?• Sleep is a state of unconsciousness,

with brief periods of dreaming.• Sleep is a state of altered

consciousness

Consciousness

• Consciousness- a state of awareness• can range from alert to not alert• It is a continuum

Studying Sleep

• Until recently it was very difficult to study

• Was aided by the electroencephlograph or (EEG)

Why do we sleep?• Not exactly sure• restorative- recharge your batteries• recover from exhaustion or stress• primitive hibernation-conserve energy• keep out of harms way at night• clear minds of information• in order to dream.

Stages of Sleep

• At first- body temperature declines, pulse rate drops, breathing becomes even

• If awakened would say you were just drifting• This is stage I and lasts about 10 minutes

Stage II- Sleep

• Eyes roll from side to side

Stage III- Sleep

• Large delta waves begin to appear

Stage IV- Sleep

• Deepest sleep of all• Difficult to awaken someone in this stage• May feel disoriented• Sleep walking, bed wetting, talking out

loud

Stage IV-Sleep

• Very important to your well-being• If don’t get to stage four you feel unrested• Look at charts on p. 185• Throughout the night you go back and

forth through stages

REM-Sleep

• During this stage eyes begin to move– REM sleep– rapid eye movement– brain waves are similar to a person who is

awake.– REM sleep called active sleep

REM sleep• Each time you enter REM sleep it becomes

longer• You do not need REM sleep to dream

– studied accident victims– REM sleep in brain stem– dreams in frontal lobe

How Much Sleep?

• 1/3 of lives in sleep• Newborns- 16 hours a day• Some 16 year olds need 10 hours a day• College students 8 hours a night• 70 year olds- five hours of sleep

How Much Sleep

• Are there certain times of the day when you are more alert?

• Body follows a circadian rhythm– biological clock that regulates physiological

responses– occurs with or without light

How Much Sleep

• When you miss sleep, disruption is very apparent– jet lag– usually takes one day for each hour of

change– time changes and accidents

Sleep Disorders

• Insomnia– a prolonged and usually abnormal

ability to get to sleep– can be caused by anxiety, depression

or overuse of alcohol or drugs

Narcolepsy

• A condition characterized by suddenly falling asleep or feeling very sleepy during the day

• affects more than 250,000 people in the United States

Sleep Apnea

• Sleep apnea- causes frequent interruptions of breathing during sleep– certain snoring is a symptom– occurs many times a night– victim is in fact choking– ends when carbon dioxide in blood rises

Sleep Apnea

• Affects 1 in 100 Americans• feel sleepy and irritable during the day• can also be caused by enlarged tonsils

or obesity

Nightmares and Night Terrors

• Nightmares- unpleasant dreams which a person may remember

• Night Terrors-occur during stage IV sleep involving screaming, rapid heart rate, and usually subjects have no memory of them.

Sleepwalking and Sleep Talking

• A person may or may not remember sleep walking or sleep talking

• has been linked to stress or fatigue• can be inherited• dangerous if they fall or injure themselves

Sleep Walking and Sleep Talking

• You can engage a person in sleep talking

Dreams

• Mental activity that takes place during sleep

• Most people can only recall a portion of their dreams

Dreams

• The first few dreams are usually of the day’s activities

• Later, dreams are longer and more dramatic

• The last dream is usually longest and one person remembers most

Dreams

• Most people dream of commonplace dull things

• Most emotions experienced during dreams are negative or unpleasant

Dream Interpretaion

• Dates back to 5,000 B.C.• Sigmund Freud- believed dreams

contained clues or thoughts the dreamer was afraid to address in their waking hours.

Dream Interpretation

• Freud believed dreams expressed impulses that were unacceptable at the conscious level

• Other argue that dreams mean nothing at all

Day Dreaming

• Dreaming or fantasizing while we are awake

• some believe it is important to creativity and thought processes

• some say it allows us to control our emotions.