Altering Consciousness With Drugs

• Psychoactive substances are drugs that affect consciousness, perception, mood, and behavior.

• Regular and excessive use can lead to substance abuse (disrupts life/ relationships) or substance dependence (physical or psychological need for substance).

Altering Consciousness With Drugs

• Regular and excessive use can lead to tolerance (need for higher dosages) or withdrawal (physical, behavioral, cognitive symptoms when reduced or stopped).

Altering Consciousness With Drugs

Depressants

• Alcohol, barbiturates and benzodiazepines are depressants that slow the activity of the central nervous system

• (reduce stress, induce sleep)

Altering Consciousness With Drugs

• Alcohol use is associated with a range of medical and psychological consequences.

• One major effect is on parts of the brain responsible for inhibiting behavior.

Altering Consciousness With Drugs

• The effects of alcohol are related to blood alcohol concentration (BAC), an indication of the amount of alcohol in the blood.

• Your BAC is determined by how much you drink, the time you take to drink it, your weight, and whether you have consumed food before or while drinking.

Altering Consciousness With Drugs

• Expectations about the effects of alcohol can influence drinking patterns.

• The relation of alcohol to violence, however, seems to be due to its biological effects, not to expectations.

Altering Consciousness With Drugs

• The rate of alcohol abuse and dependence is higher in men than in women.

Altering Consciousness With Drugs

• Like alcohol, barbiturates and benzodiazepines are depressants that slow the activity of the central nervous system.

Lethargic State

• GREATLY decreased awareness accompanied by extreme physical changes:

• Drowsy, reduced heart rate, respiration and blood pressure.

• Smaller, slower focal point

• Mental characteristics:

• Indecisive, confused, unable to concentrate, forgetful

• Emotional characteristics:

• Irritable, agitated, apathetic, inappropriate emotional reactions

Lethargic State

Causes of Lethargy

• 1. Hormonal/ Chemical imbalance:

• Hypoglycemia (low blood sugar)

Low Sugar “crash”

• Hypothyroid (slower metabolism)

• 2. Depressants

Alcohol

Barbiturates

Sedatives – NyQuil

Tranquilizers (Valium/ Xanax)

Causes of Lethargy

3. Emotional Reaction

Sadness

Boredom

4. Clinical Depression

5. Illness/ Injury

6. Exhaustion

Causes of Lethargy

Hyper-Alert State

• Greatly increased awareness accompanied by major physiological changes

• Can be good (fight or flight)

or bad (harmful stressors)

Altering Consciousness With Drugs

• Stimulants such as amphetamines speed up activity of CNS.

• most widely used stimulant is caffeine, found chocolate and beverages such as coffee.

Stimulants: Hyper-Alert

• Nicotine, major component of tobacco smoke, associated with preventable diseases heart disease.

• Cocaine can get to brain quickly and cause powerful high followed by dramatic low.

• Chemical/Hormonal imbalance• Hyperglycemia• Hyperthyroid (gland in neck,

controls metabolism)• Adrenaline (epinephrine) fight or

flight response

Causes of Hyper-Alert State

• Emotional reaction

• Eustress – positive (laughter) Adrenalin/ epinephrine (fight infection)

• Distress – negative (stress)

–Norepinephrine and epinephrine

Hyper-Alert State

• Stimulants

–Increase activity of the CNS

–Block dopamine reuptake

• Amphetamines, cocaine, Ritalin

• Caffeine, nicotine, No Doz

Hyper-Alert State

State of Euphoria

• OVERWHELMING, intense POSITIVE feelings

• Focal point is inward

• Focus on how good you feel, lose touch with external reality

1. Religious/ Occult experiences

–-praying to point of being overcome with emotion

2. Intense POSITIVE emotion

–Much more intense than positive eustress in hyper-alert state

Causes of Euphoria

3. Narcotics/ Hallucinogens:Cause changes in thinking

(cognition), emotion, self-awareness and perceptions.

Affect a variety of neurotransmitter receptors.

Causes of Euphoria

3. Drugs (cont’d)Ecstasy/ MDMA:

Rush of serotonin – pleasureHallucinogens: LSD, PCP,

marijuana (THC)Narcotics: - absence of pain

opium, morphine, codeine, heroine, percoset/ oxycotin

Causes of Euphoria

• 4. Sexual arousal (orgasm)

Causes of Euphoria

Meditation

• State of greatly increased internal awareness characterized by reduced physical activity and reduction of external/ environmental awareness

• Inducement:

• Physical relaxation

–3 deep, cleansing breaths

–Stretching, yoga, isometrics

• Mental relaxation

–Internal focal point (breathing)

–Isolated audio stimuli

–Mantra – rhythmic chanting

Meditation

Uses of Meditation

• 1. Stress control• 2. Religion• 3. Anger-management• 4. Medical conditions- heart,

migraines, and cancers

How do I Meditate?

• There are numerous amounts of ways

• can do many of them at nearly any time

• 1. Deep cleansing breaths

Inducing Meditation

• “In through the nose, out through the mouth”

• 2. Stretching• isometrics

Hypnosis

• Hypnosis, a heightened state of suggestibility, can be traced to the 18th century, when Franz Anton Mesmer claimed he had the power to induce magnetic equilibrium in the bodies of his patients.

• State of increased awareness characterized by susceptibility to unconscious suggestion

–Induced by someone else

–External focal point

–Suggestion planted in unconscious mind

Hypnosis

Hypnosis• In age regression, a hypnotized

person appears to return to childhood or past lives.

• Research indicates age regression results in reporting of fantasies or memories suggested by the hypnotist.

Hypnosis

• In age progression, a hypnotized person envisions a future event (success).

• Positive mental imagery.

• altered state of consciousness?

• differ from a state of relaxation (meditative).

Hypnosis

Hypnosis

• Hypnosis used to reduce pain in various kinds of medical treatments.

• What aspect of hypnosis responsible for pain reduction: relaxation, distraction, or expectations

Hypnosis

• Differs from meditation because hypnosis is used as psychotherapy