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STATES OF

CONSCIOUSNESS
What is Consciousness?
noun.
the normal state of being aware and able to
understand what is happening around you.
-Merriam-Webster
Consciousness is defined as our subjective
awareness of ourselves and our environment.
-Koch, 2004
Heightened Awareness Altered State of
Focused Selective Attention Consciousness

Normal Normal Waking


Divided Attention Consciousness

Daydreaming
Sleep
Altered State of
Anaesthetized Consciousness
Coma
Complete Lack of Awareness
William James: The Stream of Consciousness
“ever changing series of thoughts that can shift
smoothly and effortlessly from one moment to the
next, just like a water flowing in a stream.”

continuous personal experience


ever-changing selective
active
States of Consciousness

Normal Waking Consciousness

Altered State Consciousness


Changes in Psychological State

“Sometimes we don’t need to administer drug


for us to alter our state of consciousness.”
Level of Awareness

Awareness relates to how conscious or aware


you are of internal or external events
Controlled and Automatic Processes
Automatic processes require very little
awareness or mental effort to be performed
well and they generally don’t interfere with
other automatic or controlled process.
Controlled processes require full awareness
and mental effort to focus on the
required task.
Content Limitations

The content of normal waking consciousness


is generally more limited.

Our thoughts tend to be more creative,


bizarre, unrealistic, or impossible during an
altered state of consciousness.
Perceptual and Cognitive Distortions

Perception is the process of organizing


sensory input and giving it meaning.

Cognition relates to mental activity such as


thinking, problem-solving, language,
analysis, and reasoning.
Emotional Awareness
During normal waking consciousness, we are
generally aware of our feelings and usually
show a range of emotions that are normal for
us and appropriate for the situation.

Emotions on altered state can be heightened,


dulled, or be inappropriate for the situation.
Self-Control
During normal waking consciousness, our
ability to maintain self-control is usually
maintained.

During altered state of consciousness, our


ability to maintain self-control is reduced.
Time Orientation
During normal waking consciousness, we
usually have a good awareness of the passage
of the time.

During altered state of consciousness, time


tends to be experienced at a different speed.
Sleep

A periodic, natural, reversible and near total


loss of consciousness.
Eugene Aserinsky
Eugene Aserinsky used the
electroencephalograph (EEG) to study human
sleep. And later discovered the REM
Rapid Eye Movement (REM)

(REM) a recurring sleep stage during which


vivid dreams commonly occur.

REM NREM-2

NREM-1 NREM-3
Common Types of Sleep Disorder
Snoring and Sleep
Apnea Sleep Paralysis

Restless Legs
Insomnia Syndrome

Parasomnia Narcolepsy
Dream
A succession of images, ideas, emotions, and
sensations that usually occur involuntarily in
the mind during certain stages of sleep.
Characteristics of Dreams
Dreams often feature Strange dream
intense emotions content is accepted
Dreams are frequently People experience
disorganized bizarre sensations
Difficult to
remember
Daydream
Is a short-term detachment from one’s
immediate surroundings, during which a
person’s contact with reality is blurred and
partially substituted by a visionary fantasy.
Lucid Dreaming

A dream in which the dreamer is aware that


they are dreaming.
Hypnosis
Cooperative interaction in which the
participant responds to the suggestion of the
hypnotist.
Drugs and Consciousness
Psychoactive is a term applied to chemical
substances that changes a person’s mental
state by affecting the way the brain and
nervous system works.
Psychoactive Drugs

Stimulants Narcotics

Depressants Hallucinogens

Marijuana
State of consciousness you experience when
you are awake and aware of your thoughts,
feelings and perception from internal events
and the surrounding environment.
State of consciousness that deviates from
normal waking consciousness, in terms of
marked differences in the level of awareness,
perceptions, memories, emotions, thinking,
behaviors and sense of time, place and self-
control.
NREM-1

Beginning of the sleep cycle and is a


relatively light stage of sleep.
NREM-2
The brain begins to produce burst of rapid,
rhythmic brain wave activity known as sleep
spindles.
NREM-3
People become less responsive and noises
and activity in the environment may fail to
generate a response.
REM
REM sleep is characterized by eye
movement, increased in respiration rate, and
increased brain activity.

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