Psychoactive Drugs

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Transcript Psychoactive Drugs

Levels of Consciousness
Consciousness - An organism’s or individual’s
awareness of, or possibility of knowing what is happening
inside or outside itself
Subconscious - Consciousness just below the level of
awareness. It contains thoughts and ideas just out of our
awareness.
Unconscious - A deeper level of awareness is the
unconscious. It contains thoughts and desires about which
we have no true or direct knowledge.
Waking Consciousness
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Levels of information Processing
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Parallel processing– subconscious information
processing occurs simultaneously on many
parallel tracks.
Serial processing– conscious processing takes
place in sequence
Waking Consciousness
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Fantasy-prone personalities
someone who imagines and recalls
experiences with lifelike vividness and who
spends considerable time fantasizing
Biological Clocks
Biological clocks are
internal units that
control parts of the
body and which are
regulated by nature.
They operate on freerunning cycles (under
their own control).
Through entrainment, some cycles can be modified
to fit a different rhythm (sleep-wake cycle).
Circadian Rhythms
The human body has a natural rhythm or
cycle of sleep and wakefulness of 25 hours.
Contrast this to the light-dark cycle of 24
hours.
The human circadian rhythm is
based on an entrained 24-hour
cycle. Most people’s low points
(temperature, blood pressure, and
weakness ) generally fall between
3 a.m. and 5 a.m.
Sleep and Dreams
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REM (Rapid Eye Movement) Sleep
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recurring sleep stage
vivid dreams
“paradoxical sleep”
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muscles are generally
relaxed, but other
body systems are
active
Sleep and Dreams
REM SLEEP
NREM SLEEP
1. Rapid eye movement
1. Non-rapid eye movement
2. Increases in length as
night’s sleep progresses.
2.Decreases in length as night’s
sleep progresses.
3. Vivid dreams
3. Vague, partial images and stories
4. Nightmares
4. Incubus attacks (night terrors)
5. Paralyzed body
5. Sleepwalking & talking in sleep
6. Essential part of sleep
6. Less essential part of sleep
Brain Waves and Sleep Stages
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Beta Waves
 Wide awake waves
Alpha Waves
 slow waves of a relaxed,
awake brain
Delta Waves
 large, slow waves of deep
sleep
Hallucinations
 false sensory experiences
Sleep Spindles
 Begin during stage 2 sleep
and increase through the
cycle
The Nature of Sleep and Dreams
Stages in a Typical Night’s Sleep
Awake
Sleep
stages
1
2
3
REM
4
0
1
2
3
4
Hours of sleep
5
6
7
Functions of Sleep
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Restoration theory —body wears out during
the day and sleep is necessary to put it back
in shape
Adaptive theory— sleep emerged in evolution
to preserve energy and protect during the
time of day when there is little value and
considerable danger
Sleep Disorders
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Insomnia
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The inability to either fall asleep and/or stay asleep in the night
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#1 Cause – Stress
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#2 Cause – Irregular sleep schedule
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#3 Cause – Diet/Medications
Narcolepsy:
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Genetic sleep disorder
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Fall into uncontrollable “sleep attacks” – directly to REM
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Muscle paralysis common
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-zVCYdrw-1o
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wN1_yS6_5T4
Sleep apnea:
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Cessation of breathing while sleeping
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(typically 100 – 300 X per night)
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Causes:
Weight/Obstruction/Smoking/Asthma
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mjQdAf9cQBo
Sleep Disorders
Nightmares
Night Terrors
1. Occurs during REM sleep,
usually during the second half of
the night.
1. Occurs during NREM sleep,
usually during the first hour of the
night.
2. Mild physiological changes
2. Drastic bodily changes:
breathing & heart rate rise
dramatically.
3. Associated with panic
3. Associated with vivid images
4. Most likely to occur during REM 4. Most likely to occur in children
rebound.
Dreams: Freud
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Sigmund Freud--The Interpretation of
Dreams (1900)
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Manifest Content
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wish fulfillment
discharge otherwise unacceptable feelings
remembered story line
Latent Content
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underlying meaning
Dreams
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As Information Processing
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helps facilitate memories
REM Rebound
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REM sleep increases following REM
sleep deprivation
Hypnosis
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Hypnosis
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a social interaction in which one person (the
hypnotist) suggests to another (the subject)
that certain perceptions, feelings, thoughts,
or behaviors will spontaneously occur
Posthypnotic Amnesia
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supposed inability to recall what one
experienced during hypnosis
induced by the hypnotist’s suggestion
Hypnosis
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Orne & Evans (1965)
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control group instructed to “pretend”
unhypnotized subjects performed the same acts
as the hypnotized ones
Posthypnotic Suggestion
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suggestion to be carried out after the subject is
no longer hypnotized
used by some clinicians to control undesired
symptoms and behaviors
Hypnosis
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Dissociation
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a split in consciousness
allows some thoughts and behaviors to occur
simultaneously with others
Hidden Observer
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Hilgard’s term describing a hypnotized
subject’s awareness of experiences, such as
pain, that go unreported during hypnosis
Facts and Falsehoods
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Can hypnosis work for anyone?
Can hypnosis enhance recall of forgotten
events? Age regression – relive an earlier experience
Can hypnosis force people to act against
their will?
Can hypnosis be therapeutic?
Can hypnosis alleviate pain?
Explaining Hypnosis
Drugs and
Consciousness
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Psychoactive Drug
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Physical Dependence
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a chemical substance that alters perceptions and
mood
physiological need for a drug
marked by unpleasant withdrawal symptoms
Psychological Dependence
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a psychological need to use a drug
for example, to relieve negative emotions
Dependence and
Addiction
Big
effect
Drug
effect
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Response to
first exposure
Tolerance
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After repeated
exposure, more
drug is needed
to produce
same effect
Little
effect
Small
Large
Drug dose
diminishing effect with
regular use
Withdrawal
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discomfort and
distress that follow
discontinued use
Psychoactive Drugs
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Depressants
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drugs that reduce neural activity
slow body functions
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alcohol, barbiturates, opiates
Stimulants
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drugs that excite neural activity
speed up body functions
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caffeine, nicotine, amphetamines, cocaine
Psychoactive Drugs
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Hallucinogens
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psychedelic (mind-manifesting)
drugs that distort perceptions and
evoke sensory images in the
absence of sensory input
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LSD
Psychoactive Drugs
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Alcohol– in large or small doses it is a
depressant. Small doses may indeed, enliven
a drinker, but they do so by slowing brain
activity that controls judgment and inhibitions.
It contributes to the greatest number of
deaths.
Psychoactive Drugs
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Barbiturates
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drugs that depress the activity of
the central nervous system,
reducing anxiety but impairing
memory and judgement
Psychoactive Drugs
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Opiates
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opium and its derivatives
(morphine and heroin)
opiates depress neural activity,
temporarily lessening pain and
anxiety
Psychoactive Drugs
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Amphetamines
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drugs that stimulate neural
activity, causing speeded-up
body functions and associated
energy and mood changes
Cocaine Euphoria and
Crash
Psychoactive Drugs
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Ecstasy (MDMA)
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LSD
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synthetic stimulant and mild hallucinogen
both short-term and long-term health risks
lysergic acid diethylamide
a powerful hallucinogenic drug
also known as acid
THC
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the major active ingredient in marijuana
triggers a variety of effects, including mild
hallucinations
Near-Death Experiences
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Near-Death
Experience
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an altered state of
consciousness reported
after a close brush with
death
often similar to druginduced hallucinations
Near-Death Experiences
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Dualism
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the presumption that mind and body
are two distinct entities that interact
Monism
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the presumption that mind and body
are different aspects of the same
thing