State of Consciousness

7 Levels of Consciousness

• the state of waking consciousness
• deep sleep
• dreaming
• transcendental consciousness
• cosmic consciousness
• god consciousness
• unity consciousness

Sleep Stages

Stage One

• Light sleep where you drift in and out of sleep and can be awakened easily.
• Many people experience sudden muscle contractions preceded by a sensation of falling.
• The eyes move slowly and muscle activity slows

Stage Two

• eye movement stops and brain waves become slower with only an occasional burst of rapid brain waves.

Stage Three

• extremely slow brain waves called delta waves are interspersed with smaller, faster waves.
• Also referred to as deep sleep.

Stage Four

• The brain produces delta waves almost exclusively
• Refered to as deep sleep.

REM Sleep

• breathing becomes more rapid, irregular and shallow, eyes jerk rapidly and limb muscles are temporarily paralyzed.
• Brain waves during this stage increase to levels experienced when a person is awake

Insomnia

• Insomnia is a sleep disorder that is characterized by difficulty falling and/or staying asleep.
• People with insomnia have difficulty falling asleep, they wake up often during the night and have trouble going back to sleep . They wake up too early in the morning and feel tired upon waking.

Narcolepsy

• Narcolepsy is a neurological disorder that affects the control of sleep and wakefulness. People with narcolepsy experience excessive daytime sleepiness and intermittent, uncontrollable episodes of falling asleep during the daytime. These sudden sleep attacks may occur during any type of activity at any time of the day.

Sleep Apnea

• Sleep apnea is a potentially serious sleep disorder in which breathing repeatedly stops and starts. You may have sleep apnea if you snore loudly and you feel tired even after a full night's sleep.

Night Terrors

• Sleep terrors are episodes of screaming, intense fear and flailing while still asleep. Also known as night terrors, sleep terrors often are paired with sleepwalking. Like sleepwalking, sleep terrors are considered a parasomnia — an undesired occurrence during sleep.
• Most common in children.

­Freudian Dream Interpretation

• He believes that nothing you do occurs by chance; every action and thought is motivated by your unconscious at some level. In order to live in a civilized society, you have a tendency to hold back our urges and repress our impulses. However, these urges and impulses must be released in some way; they have a way of coming to the surface in disguised forms. One way these urges and impulses are released is through your dreams.

Activation­synthesis Dream Theory

• The activation-synthesis model is a theory of dreaming developed by researchers J. Allan Hobson and Robert McCarley.
• According to Hobson and other researchers, circuits in the brain stem are activated during REM sleep. Once these circuits are activated, areas of the limbic system involved in emotions, sensations, and memories, including the amygdala and hippocampus, become active. The brain synthesizes and interprets this internal activity and attempts create meaning from these signals, which results in dreaming.

­Information-­processing Dream theory

• The information processing theory is an approach to the cognitive development of a human being, which deals with the study and the analysis of the sequence of events that occur in a person's mind while receiving some new piece of information. The information processing theory, as we know it today, was not created but developed by George Miller. Read more at Buzzle: http://www.buzzle.com/articles/information-processing-theory.html

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• Role theory is when a person is not in an alternate state of consciousness, but rather is acting out the role of a hypnotized person. Altered state theory occurs when a person is actually hypnotized and therefore he or she is in a different, or altered, state of mind.

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• Occurs when a person is actually hypnotized and therefore he or she is in a different, or altered, state of mind.

­Dissociation Hypnosis Theory

• Dissociation theory states that hypnosis causes a person to actively or voluntarily split their consciousness.

­Stimulants

• Stimulants, sometimes called “uppers,” temporarily increase alertness and energy. The most commonly used street drugs that fall into this category are cocaine and amphetamines.

Depressants

• Slow brain function Slowed pulse and breathing Lowered blood pressure Poor concentration Confusion Fatigue Dizziness

Hallucinogens (psychedelics)

• Hallucinogens distort your senses, and particularly change your impressions of time and space. Hallucinogens specifically disrupt the neurotransmitter serotonin and interfere with the way your neural cells interact. Serotonin can be found in many places in the central nervous system (your brain and spinal cord) and assists in the functions controlling mood, hunger, body temperature, sexual behavior, muscle control, and sensory perception.

Opiates

• An opiate is a narcotic analgesic that directly depresses the central nervous system. Natural opiates are derived from the dried "milk" of the opium poppy, while synthetic opiates are manufactured in chemical laboratories with a similar chemical structure. Natural and synthetic opiates are collectively known as opioids. The most commonly abused opioid is heroin.

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