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Essay on States of Consciousness

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States of Consciousness Numerous factors determine when and why you feel tired, full of energy, and hungry. A person's state of consciousness and awareness varies throughout the day and depends on a person's activity, environment, and time clock. As a human we have what is called circadian rhythms, which simply explains our daily highs and lows. An example of your basic up and down rhythm would be the sleep/wake cycle. Sunlight regulates the sleep/wake cycle by causing the suprachiasmatic nucleus to decrease its production of melatonin in the early morning and increase it in the evening. Melatonin is a hormone that if increased in blood levels makes an individual drowsy or tired and if decreased will make them more alert. Certain …show more content…

The two basic sleep theories are the evolutionary and restorative theories of sleep. The evolutionary theory of sleep suggests that our sleep patterns are based on or defined by evolution. The second theory simply offers that sleeping restores and rejuvenates the body through physiological processes. Sleeping disorders have a variety of effects on a person. Insomnia simply disallows an individual to actually fall into deep sleep and feel rested in the morning. Sleepwalking and night terrors are much more common in childhood then in the adult life and occur during the deepest stages of NREM sleep. When a person repeatedly stops breathing during his sleep it is called sleep apnea. This sleeping disorder usually tends to occur in older more heavy weight men. Another sleeping disorder is narcolepsy, which sends an individual in an instant phase of deep REM sleep regardless of where they are and whom they are with. Dreaming is yet another state of consciousness. A dream is simply an unfolding episode of mental images that involve characters and events. Dreams usually tend to occur during REM sleep but can occur during NREM sleep as well. We dream on a variety of topics, subjects, and individuals. No dream can be exactly interpreted or defined, therefore people have always been fascinated with what, why, and how we dream. An unpleasant and almost terrifying type of dream is a nightmare. This is a very vivid, almost real

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