Sleep Disorders and Sleep Problems

Insomnia: Trouble sleeping or staying asleep. Happens in stage 1 or 2.

Narcolepsy: Sudden onset of feeling tired or actually going through fast periods of REM sleep: REM stage. (Caused by a chemical imbalance in the hypothalamus)

Sleep Apnea: Breathing is stopped during sleep. The major causes are obesity and smoking or lung issues. Happens more in REM sleep.

Somnambulism: Sleep-walking: Happens in stage ¾.

Night Terrors: These are not nightmares. You do not remember night terrors. You appear awake but your brain is asleep. Happens more in stage 4.

Bruxism: Teeth grinding. Stages 1-2

Enuresis: Bedwetting. Stages ¾

Myoclonus: Sudden jerk of a body part. Stage 2.

Hypnagogic Sensations: Falling or feeling of being pinned down.

Seasonal Affective Disorder:L When the time changes and it gets darker earlier. This occurs in areas of the world where it is dark for long periods.

Sleep, Dreams, and Body Rhythms

Consciousness: Awareness of yourself and your environment

Body Rhythms

• Biological Rhythms

• Circadian Rhythms

• Once every 24 hours (Sleep)

Hypothalamus

• Sleep control center in the brain

• Monitors changes in light or dark in the environment

• Changes levels of hormones in the body

Melatonin

• Hormone that helps regulate daily biological rhythms

• Linked to the sleep-wake cycle

• Melatonin level increase during the night and decrease with exposure to morning light

Reasons for Sleep

• Preservation: It keeps us protected from the dangers of the night

• Restoration: Recuperate from the wear and tear of the day. Restore the immune system. Repair brain tissue.

• Restore and rebuild our fading memories:

  • Moves information into long-term memory

• Creative thinking: Better problem solving

• Sleeping stimulates the pituitary gland to release growth hormone

• Improved athletic ability

• Muscle memory occurs during REM sleep

• Optimal exercise time is late afternoon

Stage 1 Sleep

• Breathing is slowed

• Brain waves become irregular

• It is easy to wake the person, who will insist they are not asleep

• Rarely lasts longer than 5 minutes

Stage 2 Sleep

• The brain wave cycle slows

• Sleep spindles (Burst of rapid brain activity)

• First time through stage 2 lasts around 20 minutes

Stages 3 and 4

• Slow wave sleep

• Delta waves

• First time through stage 4 is about 30 minutes and is where one gets rejuvenated

Stage 3

Stage 4

Rem Sleep

• Rapid eye movement (REM sleep) as eeyes move quickly back and forth

• Vivid dreaming occurs in REM sleep

• Called “paradoxical sleep”

• The brain is fully awake but the body is relaxed

Sleep Deprivation

• Decrease efficiency of immune system functioning

• Safety and accident issues: Higher rates of missed days of work

• Increased healthcare cost

• Increased risk of other medical conditions (Obesity, diabetes, heart disease, cancer)

• Contributes to impaired concentration, irritability, etc

• Increases in depression and/or anxiety if REM sleep is interrupted frequently (emotional experiences are processed during REM)

What we dream

Recurring: This usually alerts us to an unresolved issue in our life. Can be trauma-based

Precognitive Dreams: Foretell something ahead of time

Nightmares: Bad dreams; easily remembered; usually occur last time in REM (early morning)

Lucid Dreams: Aware that you are dreaming; some ability to control the actions in the dream.

Daydreams: Fantasies/things coming up/things that just happened

Dreams: The ones we remember tend to be very vivid; emotional; bizarre; and usually negative

Common Themes: Failing, being attacked, bad luck, being late, some event from that day

Anything that happens in the five minutes before you fall asleep is not remembered.

Freud

We dream because it gives us an outlet for behaviors and thoughts that aren’t acceptable in society.

• Aggressive

• Erotic fantasies

• Unacceptable urges get filled

• Unconscious drives and wishes can be fulfilled

Information-Processing Theory

• Dreams help memory

• Research suggests REM sleep helps transfer our memories into long-term storage

Physiological Function Theory

• Neural activity during REM sleep is important to the growing brain

• Dreams give the sleeping brain stimulation

Activation-Synthesis Theory

• Dreams are the mind’s attempt to make sense of random neural firings in the brain as one sleeps

Cognitive Development Theory

• Dreams are part of the brain's growing and maturing

• Dreams reflect our knowledge

• Our dreams get more involved and intense with details as we age

Nightmare Theories: Why do we have them?

• Help with emotional processing: Situational stress, anxiety, and grief that needs to be processed

• Connect us to our shadow: what is hiding in our unconscious mind? What did we go through, that we thought we solved, but maybe we didn’t? What have we repressed?

• An extension of trauma that we keep reliving (PTSD)

Is there a physical cause?

• Medication side effects, especially antidepressants

• Sleep Patterns: Insomnia

• Alcohol abuse and or alcohol withdrawal

• Other sleep conditions like sleep apnea

Hypnosis

An altered state of consciousness

A highly suggestible state. A hypnotist makes suggestions about thoughts, perceptions, behaviors, and feelings and you follow them.

Divided Consciousness Theory

During hypnosis, our consciousness splits.

Hypnotic Suggestions

Suggestions made during hypnosis to influence behavior, thoughts or emotions.

Good for trying to break bad habits like smoking or biting nails or overeating.

Posthypnotic Suggestion

Suggestion that will be carried out after the hypnosis has ended.

Hypnosis and Pain

One way to avoid taking pain pills

Hypnosis “Tricks” The brain into not sending out pain messages

Does not always work

Can’t provie it works or doesn’t work

Some people have the Placebo Effect: They want it to work, they think it is working, therefore it works