Deck 5: C: Consciousness

Question 1

Suppose someone you knew was suffering from insomnia.Explain five healthy sleep-related habits or techniques that that person could use to improve his or her sleep?

Answer 1

A good answer will include:
1.Use your bed for sleep and sexual activity only.
2.Do not "try too hard" to fall asleep;this will just keep you awake.
3.Keep clocks out of sight.
4.Exercise,but not in the evening hours.
5.Avoid caffeine,nicotine,and alcohol,which all disrupt sleep cycles.

Question 2

What are some of the therapeutic uses for hypnosis? Is it generally effective?

Answer 2

A good answer will include the following key points.
- Psychotherapy research combining hypnosis with cognitive-behavioural therapy (known as cognitive hypnotherapy)has been shown to be equally effective as,and perhaps more effective than,CBT alone.
- Similar research shows that hypnotherapy is an effective addition to medical treatments for anxiety related to post-traumatic stress,and cognitive hypnotherapy has been shown to reduce public-speaking anxiety.
- The therapeutic effect of hypnosis is often small;for example.adding hypnosis to smoking sensation and treatment for depression adds only a small benefit.
- Perhaps the most practical use for hypnosis is in the treatment of pain.Hypnosis generally worked as well as drug treatments for acute pain,which is the intense,temporary pain of a medical or dental procedure.Hypnosis is also somewhat effective for chronic pain,the types of pain that last for long periods of time.

Question 3

Describe the typical sleep cycle,starting with falling asleep and ending with the first REM period of the night.Make sure to describe the EEG and physiological characteristics associated with each stage.

Answer 3

Stage 1: brain waves become higher amplitude (theta waves),breathing,blood pressure and heart rate decrease;stage 2,10 to 15 minutes after stage 1,brain waves continue to slow,sleep spindles first appear,as do K complexes,as stage 2 progresses the individual responds to fewer and fewer external stimuli;stage 3,about 20 minutes after we begin stage 2 we enter into stage 3 which is characterized by very slow brain waves called 'delta waves' that are high amplitude and low frequency,after stage 3 and usually within an hour of beginning stage 1,stage 4 begins,which is a time when the sleeper is difficult to awaken;after stage 4 the sleeper enters REM sleep for the first time,where brain wave activity increases and resembles wakefulness.During REM sleep eyelids may flicker.The sleeper alternates between stage 4 and REM sleep in ninety-minute phases for the remainder of their time asleep.