Sleep + Dreams
What stage is REM sleep and what happens during it?
4th stage, when most dreams occur
What is hypnosis?
a form of altered consciousness in which a person can become highly suggestible
What is biofeedback?
Mind-body technique to control your body functions (like heart rate, breathing, and muscle responses)
Being fully present in the current moment
What are 3 factors that play a role in risk of addiction?
Genetics, life experiences, mental health.
(And more: peer pressure, exposure/amount of drug used...)
What did Freud believe about dreams?
He believed they showed us our hidden urges and desires (reveals our unconscious mind)
How does self-hypnosis work?
Uses relaxation and visualization to enter oneself into a hypnotic state to be open to suggestion (similar to manifestation)
Name 3 things Biofeedback can be used for?
Anxiety, asthma, pain, ADHD, headaches, TMJ, High blood pressure...etc
How does mindfulness help your brain when stressed?
Speeds the process up of regulating our body after we experienced "fight or flight" responses
What do stimulants do? What is one example?
What sleep disorder is characterized by stopping breathing while sleeping?
Sleep Apnea
Name 2 things that Hypnosis is being used for?
For reduced pain, Anxiety/mental health, behavioral changes (like quitting smoking), improving sleep...(and more)
What is Flow State? Name 2 characteristics of it.
- Being Propelled through the activity
- Everything else disappears (concentration)
- Time slows down
- Intuition turned up
Name one part of the brain that is affected during meditation?
Hippocampus: grows to improve memory + emotional regulation
Amygdala: smaller to produce less anxiety/stress/fear
Posterior Cingulate: Grows for less wandering thoughts and self-judgement
What is one benefit and one risk of using psychedelics?
Benefit: New research is showing possibility to use them for treating mental health disorders, helps people feel inner-peace and connectedness with the world
Risk: Experiencing bad trips/panic/paranoia, HPPD (hallucinations continue), making dangerous choices while high
What is the difference between nightmares and night terrors?
Nighmares= During REM Sleep. Paralyzed during dreaming
Night Terrors: People move, kick, scream (usually stage 3 of sleep cycle)
What role does the left and right brain play in hypnotic states?
Left= "conscious mind" that communicates verbally and is more rational
Right= more emotional, creative, "unconscious mind"
Right is more dominant in hypnotic states
What level of challenge is needed to achieve Flow State?
What are a few benefits of meditation?
Reduce stress/anxiety, better control over emotions, less scattered thoughts, improved sleep, increases productivity, greater inner peace/happiness, easy to incorporate into a busy schedule
What is the biggest factor that leads to addiction?
Genetics. 40-60% of addiction is related to biology. Children with a parent with a substance disorder are 4x more likely to develop a substance abuse problem
Name 2 ways that the movie "Inception" can relate to real life?
- Similar to Lucid Dreaming (controlling dreams)
- We can plant ideas in people's heads through hypnosis or hearing things in our everyday lives (power of suggestion)
- Talks about messages in our unconscious (like Mal representing the guilt Cobb feels)
What is one benefit and one drawback of hypnotherapy?
Drawback: Difficult to fund/less research than other forms of therapy, may only work for some of the population (need to be open to suggestion)
There are 22 Flow triggers. Name 3 of them.
- Complete concentration , distraction management, being fully present, novel/interesting, dopamine producing activities, unpredictability, complexity, risk taking...etc.
What are 3 kinds of meditation?
2. Spiritual Meditation
3. Focused meditation
4. Movement meditation
What is the difference between a drug abuser's brain and someone without a drug abuse issue?
Drug abuser: Needs more of the substance to feel the same level of dopamine, brain has a difficult time producing these 'feel good' hormones without substances
Non-drug abuser: Dopamine levels remain longer from same dose of drug, brain has not built up a tolerance so regular levels of 'feel good hormones' return shortly