Psychology 101 - Sleep Disorders, Hypnosis, Meditation, Psychoactive Drugs, and Substance Use Disorder

Sleep Disorders

  • Insomnia
      - Definition: Not getting enough sleep to feel rested the next day
      - Common in older women
      - Example: Lying awake, unable to fall asleep

  • Sleep Apnea
      - Definition: A condition where a person stops breathing due to throat closure, resulting in frequent awakenings.
      - Common in middle-aged men and associated with obesity
      - Example: Snoring

  • REM Sleep Behavior Disorder
      - Definition: Loss of paralysis during REM sleep resulting in violent behavior.
      - Common in older males
      - Not the same as somnambulism
      - Example: Punching the wall while asleep

  • Somnambulism (Sleepwalking)
      - Definition: Acting out dreams which occurs during slow-wave sleep (N3).
      - Common in young children
      - Not acting out a dream
      - Example: Wandering around with a glassy-eyed expression

  • Narcolepsy
      - Definition: Extreme fatigue leading to naps at inappropriate times, often triggered by excitement or arousal.
      - May experience muscle paralysis that occurs during REM sleep.
      - Genetic condition affecting neurotransmission in the hypothalamus.
      - Example: Falling asleep while driving a car.

Consequences of Sleep Deprivation

  • Brain:
      - Cognitive impairment
      - Memory lapses
      - Amnesia
      - Impaired morals
      - Irritability
      - Hallucinations
      - Symptoms similar to ADHD

  • Muscle:
      - Decreased reaction time
      - Tremors
      - Muscle aches
      - Microsleeps

  • Digestive System:
      - Increased risk of type 2 diabetes
      - Increased hunger leading to a risk of overeating

  • Heart:
      - Variable heart rate
      - Increased risk of heart disease

  • Compromised Immunity

  • REM Rebound:
      - Definition: A phenomenon where one enters the REM stage more quickly and frequently after a long period of deprivation.

How to Improve Sleep

  • Engage in exercise (not before bed)

  • Avoid caffeine and alcohol late in the day

  • No big meals immediately before bed

  • Quiet your mind

  • Turn off electronics:
      - Electronics emit blue light which inhibits melatonin production and worsens sleep.

  • Keep the bedroom dark and cool

  • Maintain a regular sleep schedule

Hypnosis

  • Definition: A state wherein a person experiences changes in memory, perception, and voluntary action in response to suggestions.

  • Post-Hypnotic Suggestions:
      - Effects that occur after the hypnosis session, potentially leading to behavior changes (without explicit memory of the suggestion)
       - Can aid in weight loss or smoking cessation by subtly influencing behavior.
      - Most effective in highly suggestible individuals who willingly follow suggestions.

  • Characteristics of Highly Suggestible Individuals:
      - Easily absorbed in tasks
      - Rich imagination
      - Minimal distraction

Theories of Hypnosis

  • Sociocognitive Theory:
      - Hypnotized individuals behave in accordance with their expectations of how hypnotized individuals should behave, regardless of whether these expectations are accurate.

  • Dissociation Theory:
      - Hypnosis is an actual altered state of consciousness.
      - Characterized by a trance-like state where conscious awareness separates from other aspects of consciousness.
      - Evidence: When individuals imagine colored objects, brain activity in the visual cortex, which processes color, is observed.

  • Hypnotic Analgesia:
      - Definition: Pain reduction through hypnosis; alters the patient’s interpretation of pain rather than diminishing it.
      - Patients may feel detached from painful sensations.

Meditation

  • Definition: Intense contemplation leading to deep calmness; an altered state of consciousness.

  • Types of Meditation:
      - Mindfulness Meditation:
        - Observing thoughts as they flow freely without judgment or reaction.
      - Concentrative Meditation:
        - Focusing on a single point (e.g. breathing, mantra)
      - Transcendental Meditation:
        - Meditating with intense concentration for 20 minutes daily.

  • Long-Term Effects:
      - Structural brain changes maintain function over the lifespan.

Psychoactive Drugs

  • Stimulants:
      - Definition: Substances that increase behavior and mental activity.
      - Examples:
        - Caffeine: Found in coffee, soda, energy drinks.
        - Nicotine: Present in cigarettes and e-cigarettes.
        - Amphetamines (e.g., Adderall):
          - Used to treat attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
          - Commonly misused as a study aid.
          - Methamphetamine:
            - Produces high levels of dopamine, leading to prolonged effects that can damage the frontal lobe.
            - Allows dopamine to remain in synapses longer, increasing feelings of reward and liking.
            - Results in greater desire for the drug, even when its pleasurable effects are diminished.

  • Depressants:
      - Definition: Substances that decrease behavior and mental activity.
      - Effects:
        - Slows down the central nervous system (CNS).
        - Causes sedation in high doses (sedatives).
        - Activates GABA receptors.
        - May activate dopamine receptors but leads to memory interference and long-term brain damage.

  • Opioids:
      - Definition: Substances that reduce pain and induce pleasure.
      - Types:
        - Natural: Heroin, morphine, codeine
        - Synthetic: Fentanyl, Vicodin
      - Effects:
        - Leads to feelings of relaxation, pain insensitivity, and euphoria.
        - Heroin and morphine bind to opiate receptors, increasing the desire for the drug through dopamine activation.

  • Hallucinogens:
      - Definition: Substances that alter perceptions, thoughts, and emotions.
      - Effects:
        - Alters sensation and perception.
        - LSD:
          - Derived from ergot fungus; causes trips lasting about 12 hours, resulting in intense hallucinations and a distorted sense of time.
        - MDMA (Ecstasy):
          - Causes energizing effects similar to stimulants but also includes hallucinations.
          - Associated with reduced dopamine activity but increased serotonin and norepinephrine activity.
          - Damage may occur to prefrontal cortex and hippocampus; could benefit individuals with PTSD by promoting compassion and trust while minimizing negative emotions.

  • Cannabis:
      - Categorized as both a stimulant and depressant.
      - Comprised of the dried leaves and buds of the plant.
      - Psychoactive ingredient: THC (tetrahydrocannabinol), which binds to cannabinoid receptors.
      - Effects:
        - Induces a relaxed mental state, uplifted mood, and cognitive distortions.
        - Creates altered states of consciousness with vivid sensory experiences.
        - First-time users may have different experiences from seasoned users due to tolerance.

Summary of Psychoactive Drugs

Class

Examples

Psychological Effects

Neurotransmitter Systems

Stimulants

Amphetamines, methamphetamine, cocaine,

Increased behavior and mental activity

Dopamine, norepinephrine

nicotine, caffeine

Depressants

Anti-anxiety drugs (e.g., benzodiazepines),

Decreases behavior and mental activity

GABA

alcohol

Opioids

Heroin, morphine, codeine

Reduces pain and provides pleasure

Endorphins

Hallucinogens

LSD, peyote, psilocybin mushrooms, MDMA,

Changes perceptions, thoughts, and emotions

Serotonin (LSD, peyote, psilocybin), dopamine, norepinephrine (MDMA), cannabinoid (cannabis)

Substance Use Disorder

  • Definition: A condition where individuals feel an irresistible urge to use drugs despite facing negative consequences.

  • Tolerance:
      - Definition: State resulting from continuous drug use, requiring more of the substance to achieve the same subjective effect.

  • Withdrawal:
      - Definition: Physical and psychological state that occurs when the intake of a drug ceases after continuous use.
        - Psychological withdrawal symptoms include anxiety, tension, and cravings.
        - Physical withdrawal symptoms include nausea, chills, body aches, and tremors.

  • Development Mechanism:
      - Tolerance and withdrawal develop as drugs activate dopamine receptors, reinforcing drug-seeking behavior.

  • Cycle of Use:
      - Using drugs provides pleasure → Tolerance necessitates increased use → Increased usage to escape withdrawal symptoms
      - Result: The brain's reward system becomes less sensitive, diminishing pleasure from both drugs and non-drug related activities.

  • Characteristics of Individuals Prone to Substance Use Disorder:
      - Exhibit impulsivity, risk-taking behaviors, lack of personal harm concern, and a predisposition to seek pleasure from chemical substances.
      - Those raised in stressful and disadvantaged environments are at higher risk.

Altered States of Consciousness

  • Levels of consciousness - how aware you are of external stimuli and your own thoughts

    • Unconscious = low awareness

  • State of Consciousness - how much your current level of consciousness deviates from your normal

  • An altered state of consciousness occurs when the external world seems much more/less clear to us than usual, and when our thoughts are much more/less organized than usual

    • Includes hypnosis, meditation, drugs


Hypnosis

  • Discovered by Franz Mesmer (german physician)

  • Believed all things possessed an invisible force that links everything together

    • Animal magnetism

  • Treatments inadvertently put people into a trance like hypnotic state

  • Hypnosis - social interaction during which a person, responding to suggestion, experiences changes in memory, perception, and /or voluntary action 

    • Posthypnotic suggestions can be used to help lose weight or quit smoking

  • Two theories

    • Sociocognitive - hypnotized ppl not in an altered state,  but they behave in a way that is expected in that situation

    • Dissociation - hypnotized ppl are in an altered state in which their awareness is separated from other aspects of consciousness

  • Hypnotic analgesia - form of pain reduction that is effective in treating pain and supporting recovery from surgery

    • Changes the client’s perception of pain and allows them to detach from pain sensations and the resulting emotion

    • Supports dissociation theory

  • Meditation - Intense contemplation leads to deep sense of calmness, which is described as an altered state of consciousness

  • Flow - A highly focused, altered state of consciousness where awareness of self and time diminishes due to complete absorption in an enjoyable activity

    • participation in an intense sport/religious ceremony


Psychoactive Drugs

  • Psychoactive drugs - chemical that alters perceptions and/or mood (affects consciousness)

  • 3 types: Stimulants, Depressant,Psychedelics/Enthoegens

  • All do their work at the synapses

    • Stimulate, inhibit, or mimic activity of the brain's chemical messengers (NT)

  • Stimulants - excites neural activity and speeds up body functions

    • Causes euphoria, heightened arousal/energy, decreased appetite

      • Can be used to treat ADHD by reaching appropriate dopamine levels

    • Cocaine, amphetamine, methamphetamine, caffeine, nicotine

    • Excessive use leads to addiction/dependence

  • Depressants - decreases CNS activity

    • Produces sleep, anxiety relief, muscle relaxation, and seizure alleviation

      • Can be used to relieve pain

    • Alcohol, benzodiazepines, barbiturates

    • High abuse potential and risk of overdose

    • Opiates - including morphine, heroine, methadone, oxycontin, fentanyl

      • Effects: analgesia, hypothermia, sedation, euphoria

      • Rapidly lead to tolerance and intense withdrawal symptoms

      • Naloxone and Naltrexone can be used to prevent overdose → blocks opiate receptors

  • Psychedelics (Enthogens) - induces alterations in perception, mood, consciousness, cognition, or behavior

    • Traditioanlly used for engendering spiritual development 

    • Widely used in human cultures across the planet for thousands of years

      • Currently in clinical evaluation as therapy for treatment resistant conditons

      • Unique tool for studying structure and function of human consciousness

    • Several drugs have hallucinogenic effects that alter sensation and perception

      • MDMA (ecstasy), lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), psilocybin mushrooms, peyote, and marijuana

      • Low abuse potential and risk of overdose

  • Cannabinoids - Delta 9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) stimulates the CB1 receptors

    • Produces analgesia and sedation, stimulates appetite, reduces nausea and v=omiting, relieves asthma attacks, decreases symptoms of glaucoma, motor disorders, wasting syndrome, depression, anxiety, insomnia, arthritis pain…

    • Interferes  with concentration, memory, and visual/auditory/time perception

    • Effects depend on strain of the plant, mode of ingestion, and psychological expectation

  • Physical and psychological aspects of excessive use

    • Addiction - compulsive craving/use, despite negative consequences 

      • Addict needs the drug more than they like it

    • Dependence - when a person requires some amount of a substance to function normally

    • Tolerance - when the same dose of a drug has a diminishing effect after regular use

    • Withdrawal = physical/psychological discomfort allows cessation orf drug use in drug dependence, opposite of effects felt when taking the drug

  • 5-10% of ppl who use drugs become addicted

    • Evidence of genetic components of addiction, especially alcoholism