Altered States of Consciousness

In what ways (if at all) do altered states of consciousness play a role in your life? After learning about all of the other non-sleep altered states, have you learned anything new that you may now use to improve the quality of your life? What steps do you think you can you take to experience more "flow" experiences?

Altered states of consciousness do not play a role in my life in anyway. i do not use drugs, nor participate in hypnosis. I've learned new things but not necessarily anything to help the quality of my life. Steps i think i can take to experience more flow experiences would be to do things i enjoy more.

Why Teenagers do not get enough sleep

-stress
-surfing the internet
-watching tv
-activity in the day- more or less than normal
-homework
-technology in general
-distracted

Defense Mechanisms

When faced with anxiety, stress, and conflicts among the id, ego, and superego, Freud believed that every person uses 2-3 unconscious defense mechanisms that work to protect the ego and help you get through life. In a sense, they are our psychological crutches. Identify the 2-3 defense mechanisms you personally use most frequently. Explain why you chose these defense mechanisms. Develop this blog fully, with lots of stories, examples, and personal details from your life that demonstrate this. You will be given plenty of time to develop this into a short paragraph explaining each one.

After reading and participating in today's discussion, do you think that males or females have a more difficult challenge growing up? Why? to what extent were the readings accurate? What were the most difficult challenges you personally had to face as a guy or girl growing up?


I think that males and females each have an equally challenging time, but just in different ways. I am obviously going to think i have had a harder time growing up but i will never know what it was like to grow up as a boy, so how can i really come to an informed conclusion? I cant. The most difficult challenges i personally had growing up as a girl was the drama that constantly went on. My friends and i were always wrapped up in nonsense and things that didnt matter.

Birth Order

I am the oldest child in my family, i have one sister who is 4 years younger than me.
According to the studies and article we have read, my sister and i line up with the research. I am the oldest, and i am academically smarter than my sister as well as more stressed by things, organized as well as more creative than my sister. I guess my relationship with my sister has made me the determined, take-charge, person that i am today. In addition, it has made me very caring and nurturing because i've always felt a responsibility for her. I take comfort in knowing that my opinion matters the most to her. But often i do feel bad because my personality i believe has affected hers. Because i am so outspoken, and tend to interrupt a lot, my sister is very quiet, but when she does speak its very sarcastic and witty, i presume to retort my banter. Its very interesting to know that my actions will have influenced her behavior for her whole life.
I never really thought about how my birth order affects the person i am today but its a bit earth shattering to think it does. Would i really be the same person today if i was the youngest or middle? ITs actually very interesting because it all goes back to the idea of nature vs. nurture. I have no way to know, which is frightening.

a. What are the major causes of stress in your life?
major causes of stress in my life is the pressure to balance work, friends and school.
What coping strategies do you use, and what could you do to deal with stress more effectively? i just breathe, and think that eventually the stress will be over, i'll accomplish what i need to, and the stress will only last so long.

b. Examine your film notes and homework notes. After watching the film and reading the article about stress, explain why stress is so dangerous to your health in a variety of ways.
If a person is under stress for an extended period of time, cortisol and adrenaline are released as normal bodily functions. However, because the stress is sustained, the brain does not order the production of these hormones to stop. The body is therefore in a continuous panic mode, which means that blood pressure is increased and the heart rate is increased. Sustained high blood pressure is extremely dangerous for the heart because it causes the valves to become damaged. For most people, this is not detected early enough, and is only picked up when the person suffers a heart attack. Another side-effect of sustained stress is the onset of sugar diabetes, and the consequences of this are daily insulin injections. Of course, it depends on the type of diabetes and the seriousness of the disease.
Why do you think America leads the world in stress-related diseases?
Although we are a very adaptive civilization, dealing with changes has become more difficult, especially when an increasing amount of demands are placed on us. We are expected to meet an ever-increasing number of deadlines. This has placed an increased amount of pressure, and it is this pressure that leads to sustained stress. During times of stress, adrenaline and cortisol are released as a coping mechanism. In prehistoric times, stress would only be experienced in short bursts, so once the cortisol and adrenaline have been released, the body goes into flight or fight mode, gets out of the situation, and then retreats back to normal mode. Once the brain has detected this, cortisol and adrenaline production is ceased immediately.

# 3

In your opinion, to what extent should problems like alcoholism and drug addiction be considered "diseases of the brain" or personal failings (moral, willpower, etc.)? Feel free to discuss your own real-world observations and experiences. What about other issues, like depression?


In my opinion, the severity of the case usually tells if the problem is a a disease vs lack of personal will. Usually if its to the point where you can't live with out it, which is essentially when alcoholism and addiction is defined as, then its a manifestation of a disease. It all has to deal with having an addictive personality, and if a person overcomes being an alcoholic or addicted to drugs, they'll usually move on to something else.