Altered states of consciousness

1. Altered states of consciousness

2. Do Now 5 Questions 5 Minutes

3. Meditation • Reduces stress • Enter “trance” state • Focus on some object • Mantra • deeper state of relaxation or awareness • Prayer

4. Biofeedback • Biofeedback is a form of alternative medicine that involves measuring a subject's quantifiable bodily functions such as blood pressure, heart rate, skin temperature, sweat gland activity, and muscle tension, conveying the information to the patient in real-time. This raises the patient's awareness and conscious control of their unconscious physiological activities.

5. Hypnosis • Hypnosis definition • Procedure in which a researcher, clinician, or hypnotists suggests that a person will experience changes in sensation, perceptions, thoughts, feelings, or behaviors • Who is susceptible? • individuals with the remarkable ability to respond to imaginative suggestions • best known test: Stanford Hypnotic Susceptibility Scale • asks individuals to carry out a series of both simple and complex suggestions • high scorers are usually easily hypnotized

6. Hypnosis • Behaviors • Hypnotic analgesia • refers to a reduction in pain reported by clients after they had undergone hypnosis and received suggestions that reduced their anxiety and promoted relaxation • Posthypnotic suggestion • given to the subject during hypnosis about performing a particular behavior to a specific cue when the subject comes out of hypnosis

7. Hypnosis • Posthypnotic amnesia • not remembering what happened during hypnosis if the hypnotist suggested that, upon awakening, the person would forget what took place during hypnosis • Age regression • refers to subjects under hypnosis being asked to regress, or return in time, to an earlier age, such as early childhood • Imagined perception • refers to experiencing sensations, perceiving stimuli, or performing behaviors that come from one’s imagination

8. Hypnosis • Medical and therapeutic applications • Medical and dental use • used to reduce pain through hypnotic analgesia, to reduce fear and anxiety by helping individuals relax, or to help patients deal with a terminal disease by motivating them to make the best of a difficult situation • Therapeutic and behavioral uses • useful in helping clients reveal their personalities, gain insights into their lives, and arrive at solutions to their problems • Useful, temporarily, in cessation of smoking, weight loss

10. DRUGS

11. Drug Tolerance • The diminishing effect with regular dose of the same dose. • Must take more of same drug to produce same effect Psychological v. Physical dependence

12. Withdrawal

13. Psychoactive Drugs • Psychoactive Drugs: chemical substances that alter perceptions and mood • Depressants: reduces neural activity and slow body functions. • Stimulants: excite neural activity and arouse/speed up body functions. • Hallucinogens: distort perceptions or evoke sensation without sensory input.

14. Depressants Alcohol • Slows down sympathetic nervous system. • Disrupts memory processing (short to long term memory). • Impairs judgment • Reduces self-awareness. • Involved in up to 60% of all crimes. • The worst drug from a macro perspective out there.

15. Depressants Barbiturates • Tranquilizers • Mimic the effects of alcohol • Taken to sleep (but reduce REM sleep) and anxiety. • Impair judgment and memory • Taken with other drugs- you can get a synergistic effect.

16. Depressants Opiates (opium) • Heroin and morphine • Breathing slows, user becomes lethargic • Addition comes fast and the withdrawal symptoms are bad

17. Stimulants • Amphetamines (Speed) • Methamphetamines • Cocaine • Crack • Ecstasy • “the crash” • Headaches • Irritability • Insomnia • Hypertension • Depression • Fatigue • Increased heart rate and breathing rate • Pupils dilate • Appetite diminishes • Energy and self confidence rise

19. Hallucinogens LSD (Acid) • Can cause PTSD and schizophrenia. • Geometric patterns • Hallucinations • Delusions • Flashbacks…trippin’ years after stop using

20. Hallucinogens Marijuana • THC (Tetrahydrocannabinl) • Difficult to classify • Can amplify senses • Impairs motor coordination, perceptual skills, and reaction time • Disrupts memory formation • Chemicals stay in the body for a month or longer

22. Near Death Experiencesas altered states of consciousness • Near-death experience is a state of consciousness reported after being close to death.  These same experiences, such as seeing bright tunnels, are often experienced from LSD (drug hallucination) or oxygen deprivation. • Out-of-body sensations • Traveling toward the light • Dualists interpret experiences as evidence of human immortality • Monists believe that such experiences parallel reports of hallucinations and may be products of a brain under stress

23. The Mouse Party

24. Sleep Disorder Projects • Research information on a specific sleep disorder. Once you have collected your information begin creating your visual (how you plan to present this information) • By the end of your project you should have all requirements that are listed on the directions and rubric (self-check) • After you create your presentation, practice and review– be prepared to present to the class