Awareness
Awareness from a Christian Perspective
Sensation
Vision
Hearing
Other
Perception
Organization and Interpretation
Spiritual Perception
ESP
States of Consciousness
Sleep
Dreaming
Visions
Meditation
Drugs
Chapters 3 and 4 in Dewey’s introductory text are relevant.
(Chapter 5—Sensation, Chapter 6—Perception, and Chapter 7—States of Consciousness, in Myers 8th edition are also relevant.)
Another major area of psychology is that of awareness which includes receiving sensations caused by stimuli coming from the environment, organizing these sensations into perceptions, and experiencing various states of consciousness. This study of awareness has been part of modern psychology from the beginning. As we saw in the Prologue, when Wundt and his colleagues began psychology, they set out to study the structure of consciousness. When they reduced consciousness to its elements through introspection, they concluded that the three elements were sensations, images, and affective states (emotions). Although the structural school disappeared from the scene more than a century ago, sensations, images, and emotions are still a vital part of psychology.
Awareness from a Christian Perspective
Awareness fits into our Christian perspective as shown in the lower part of Figure 4:1. Our sensory receptors are very similar to those of animals. For example, various primitive eyes all have the same basic plan, that of a lens forming an image on a set of receptors that are sensitive to light, and human eyes are typical vertebrate eyes. Although the external structure of our apparatus for hearing (what we call our “ear”) is quite different from that of animals, the receptors themselves, in the cochlea where the neural impulses are generated, are very similar to those in animals.
These sensations do not enter a blank nervous system. The central nervous system is not simply a passive receiver of stimulation but reacts in an integrated manner to these inputs. Current sensations interact with memories of past experiences. Motivations, emotions, values, and expectations all contribute to the interpretation of the sensations. The organization and elaboration of these sensations into meaningful wholes are parts of the process of perception. Although the patterns of reaction to sensations seem to be innate in many lower animals, in human beings these reactions are organized and altered by learning and thinking. When talking about sensation, we said that humans were quite animal-like, but when talking about perception, we are talking about the more God-like aspects of humans, as shown in Figure 4.1. We are made in God's image, and this has an influence on how we perceive the world around us.
Figure 4:1 Awareness from a Christian perspective
HUMANS
Created . . . . . . . . . . . in the. . . . . . . . . Image of God
Like Animals Like God
Overt Behavior. . . . . . Definition. . . . . .Mental Processes
Understand. . . . . . . . . Goals. . . . . . . . .Make people
Creation like God
Psychoanalysis. . . . . . Systems. . . . . . .Humanistic
Behaviorism Psychology
Experimental . . . . . . .Methods . . . . . . Descriptive
Physical. . . . . . . . . . .The Person . . . . Spiritual
Immaturity. . . . . . . . .Development. . .Maturity
Sensation . . . . . . . . .Awareness . . . . .Perception
(States of Consciousness)
Finally, people sometimes have experiences other than those found in usual waking consciousness. Sometimes they enter these in the course of usual life activities, such as falling asleep and having dreams. At other times they purposely alter their awareness through religious experiences or consuming chemicals, such as going into a trance or taking a psychoactive drug. These activities may make persons either more animal-like or more God like(as depicted in Figure 4.1).
Sensation
One major area of interest to psychologists has been the study of how humans come into contact with their environments, how they become aware of the world around them. Looking at the title of this section, one might ask why psychology looks at sensation if psychology is the science of behavior and mental processes. Sensation qualifies in both respects. When energy strikes an appropriate receptor, the receptor initiates a neural impulse which is a response, or a behavior. These impulses usually result in other responses, but not all are as immediately obvious as those following sitting on a tack or touching a hot stove. Sensation is also a mental process, as it is the way in which we come consciously into contact with the world around us. We cannot even imagine what our mental processes would be without any of our senses. A very important reason for studying sensation is that our sensations become organized into perceptions that largely determine how people behave. If we can understand how people perceive their world, we have come a long way toward understanding their behavior.
The rest of this section is primarily about two major senses, vision and hearing. However, it also contains some material on other senses.
Vision
Seeing something may lead to temptation and even to sin. This truth goes back as far as sin itself. God told the man and the woman in the Garden not to eat the fruit of a particular tree, and the temptation to the first sin was a visual one. “When the woman saw that the fruit was good…and pleasing to the eye…she took some and ate it” (Genesis 3:6). Visual stimuli may lead to a variety of temptations, such as coveting, gluttony, and sexual immorality.
Coveting. In the Ten Commandments God told people not to covet anything belonging to someone else, not the person’s house, spouse, servants, animals, or anything else (Exodus 20:17). Achan is a good example of seeing things leading to temptation and sin. After a stunning defeat, Joshua asked Achan what he had done. Achan said, “When I saw…a beautiful robe…shekels of silver…and wedge of gold…I coveted them and took them” (Joshua 7:21).
In Achan’s day such visual temptation to covet came primarily from seeing actual things. Today such visual temptations come from pictures on or in a wide variety of sources, such as billboards, catalogs, books, television, and websites. These may appear while driving on the highway, reading printed material, watching sports or a movie on TV, or while surfing the Internet. Even if people have learned to avoid them in their passport culture, they may take them by surprise in their host culture. They may make a person want a new house, car, sexual partner, or nearly anything else.
Envy was one of the Seven Cardinal Sins (sometimes called the Seven Deadly Sins), and it leads to unhappiness. For more information on this see the brochure about happiness, comparison and envy at http://www.missionarycare.com/brochures/br_comparison_envy.htm .
Gluttony. Another of the Seven Cardinal Sins was gluttony. The Bible also contains many passages on eating and gluttony. It points out that hunger drives people on (Proverbs 16:26), and it notes that appetite is never satisfied (Ecclesiastes 6:7). When the people were wandering in the wilderness, they wished they had never left Egypt where they had abundant seafood and vegetables (Numbers 11:5). The Bible also notes that delicacies can be deceptive (Proverbs 23:3). Proverbs warns that gluttons become poor and wind up in rags and suggests putting a knife to one’s throat if prone to gluttony (Proverbs 23:2, 21).
When it comes to feeling hungry, many people are more sensitive to the sight of food than they are to the actual physiological needs of their body. They are not even hungry until they see food; then they become hungry and eat it as long as it is in sight. Today with our abundance of rich food, we have a world-wide problem with obesity. Advertisers know that and put pictures on billboards to get people to stop driving to eat and on television to get a person to go to the kitchen and get some food.
Sexual Immorality. Another of the Seven Cardinal Sins was lust. The Ten Commandments in the Old Testament not only mention coveting someone else’s spouse, but also forbid adultery with that spouse (Exodus 20:14, 17). Jesus in the New Testament elaborates on this commandment bringing in vision. He says those who look lustfully at (eagerly desire) another person have already committed adultery in their hearts (Matthew 5:28).
A classic example of this temptation leading to sin in the Bible is King David whose actions in 2 Samuel 11 illustrate processes similar to what Christian workers may experience today. David should have been out on the front lines with his army, but he remained at home alone. One night when he could not sleep, he got up and wandered around his house. He looked out and saw a very beautiful woman bathing. Rather than looking away, David sent someone to find out more about her. Even though he found out she was married, he sent someone else to invite her over. After their night of sex, she went back home. All seemed well until the woman sent word to David saying she was pregnant (and she had not had sex with her husband in weeks).
Rather than confessing his wrong, David tried a cover-up. When David had her husband come back to Jerusalem for a few days, the husband did not go home to spend the night with his pregnant wife. David got the husband drunk, but he still did not go home to his wife. So David had the husband sent into the thick of battle to be killed, adding murder to his sin of adultery. In following chapters he was confronted by a prophet who told him what he did in secret would be avenged in daylight. The child conceived in adultery died, and incest, rape, violence, family disintegration, and murder within the family followed.
People fighting in wars have succumbed to sexual temptation just as people did in Bible times. Military personnel have been notorious for their sexual exploits for thousands of years. They are lonely, tired, living in a strange culture, away from home, away from family, away from friends, engaged in an ideological conflict—and no one will know. Missionaries are in a similar position, only they are in a spiritual battle in Satan’s territory. The local dress may expose parts of the body which have sexual implications in their passport cultures, but not in their host cultures.
Those sexual temptations are even more prevalent because of the Internet. Even missionaries in developing nations often can access pornography from all parts of the world. Unable to sleep, they may surf the net, notice something “interesting,” click on other icons to find out more, and download graphic visual images and text. If they contact others in chat rooms, the conversations may be discovered by spouses who feel betrayed or by children who become disillusioned. Families can disintegrate when either the husband or the wife becomes romantically or sexually involved with others in cyberspace.
Since we are dealing with a problem that involves the computer, a person can do several things to clean up computer use.
· Most Internet service providers have some kind of filtering software that will block access to pornographic sites, so use that.
· Since everyone surfing the Internet or searching for something specific on it is likely to at some time access an inappropriate site, decide in advance that you will click on the “back” icon as soon as you realize what it is, without looking at it in detail.
· Keep your computer in a “public” place in the house so that others are around whenever you are using the computer.
· Have someone hold you accountable by coming in at random times to look at the history of sites you have visited on the Internet.
· Have someone hold you accountable by stopping by at random times to look at the “cookies” that have been placed in your computer to see that there are none from pornographic sites.
· If you carry your laptop to conferences, conventions, deputation, etc, leave a list of where you will be staying every night and have a friend call you every evening at random times to ask you how you are doing.
· Avoid discussing your Internet problem with an opposite-gender friend because doing so often increases the intimacy of that friendship, leading to temptation.
· Admit to yourself and to God that you are powerless to control this behavior on your own.
· Admit to at least one other person of the same gender that you are powerless to control your Internet activity on your own.
· Have an accountability group or partner that you meet with regularly (weekly, if possible) to report how you are doing and hold you accountable.
· Have accountability partners online who receive a history of the web sites you visit each month. For a few dollars a month “Covenant Eyes” will e-mail or snail-mail two persons of your choice a history of all the Internet sites you visit. You will be able to view your own history, but you will not be able to change it. You may pick your own accountability partners, or they will find one for you. See http://www.covenanteyes.com/ for more information.
· Write a “good-bye” letter to your addiction, that “problematic companion” who was always there but whom you never want to see again.
· Be very careful what “pictures” you hang on the “walls of your mind” and what “films” you play in the “theater of your mind.”
· Engage in the following every day, and record them in your journal.
· Begin each day with prayer for resistance to Internet temptation.
· Call and report to a recovering buddy.
· Read some recovery literature or devotionals.
· End each day with prayers of thanksgiving for resistance (and of confession, if necessary).
For more information see the Internet Immorality brochure at: http://www.missionarycare.com/brochures/ss_internetimmorality.htm.
For further information about specific topics in vision click on the following links to parts of Chapter 4 in Dewey’s on-line text.
Hearing
Just as something seen may lead to sinful behavior, so may something heard. The issues in audition are similar to those we just considered in vision.
Temptation. In Bible times people had to be present to hear what people said or hear the music as it was played. Today recordings may be made of conversations and musical performances so that one can hear them not only on television and in the movies, but also on the radio and on compact discs, mp3 files and so forth. Missionaries anywhere in the world can receive satellite radio in their own language, and some stations are notorious for their foul content. CDs, ipods, and so forth may be carried anywhere, and the lyrics of many songs are sexually explicit. Listening over and over to such things tends to make them seem normal and acceptable.
Refusal to hear. In addition to what people hear, the Bible talks about what they refuse to hear. Consider these examples:
· “Their ears are closed so they cannot hear” (Jeremiah 6:10).
· “…they have ears to hear but do not hear” (Ezekiel 12:2).
· “They hardly hear with their ears” (Acts 28:27).
· “They will turn their ears away from the truth” (2 Timothy 4:4).
Of course, these instances do not refer to people who cannot receive the vibrations through the air and hear the words, but to people who refuse to believe that the words relate to themselves.
Hearing but not doing. Finally, the Bible talks about people who do hear God’s Word and understand it, but they do not act on it.
· “They hear your words but do not put them into practice” (Ezekiel 33:32).
· “Everyone who hears these words…and does not put them into practice…” (Matthew 7:26).
· “Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says…” (James 1:23).
For further information about specific topics in hearing click on the following links to parts of Chapter 4 in Dewey’s on-line text.
Other Senses
Other senses may also have different implications in missionaries’ host cultures. Here are some related to touch, taste, and smell.
Touch. People in some cultures routinely greet each other with a kiss as an indication of friendship, not as an indication of sexual interest. Paul told the Corinthians and the Thessalonians to greet with a kiss, as did Peter in his letter to the churches (1 Corinthians 16:20, 2 Corinthians 13:12, 1 Thessalonians 5:26, and 1 Peter 5:14). Judas betrayed Jesus with a kiss (Matthew 26, Mark 14, and Luke 22). All of these were routine cultural greetings as are some kisses in many cultures today.
Other kinds of touch, such as holding hands, may also be simply signs of friendship. On the other hand, a touch that has no sexual implications in one’s passport culture may have very intimate implications in the host culture. Loving touch can be a powerful healing agent, whereas abusive touch can be a source of physical, emotional, or spiritual wounding.
Taste. Things considered unacceptable to eat in one setting may be delicacies in another. Missionaries in one culture may see the dogs as protection and not as dinner. In another culture dogs are considered a delicacy.
Smell. Body odor is considered offensive in some cultures, so people shower daily then apply antiperspirants, perfumes, and/or deodorants to keep the odor from occurring. However in other cultures the same odor is considered erotic, so people living there bathe much less often and do nothing to stop the odor from occurring.
For further information about specific topics in other senses click on the following links to parts of Chapter 4 in Dewey’s on-line text.
Perception
The sensations mentioned earlier in the chapter do not enter a blank nervous system. The central nervous system is not simply a passive receiver of stimulation but reacts in an integrated manner to these inputs. Current sensations interact with memories of past experiences. Motivations, emotions, and expectations all contribute to the interpretation of the sensations. The organization and elaboration of these sensations into meaningful wholes is the process of perception. The sensations essentially provide the “raw data'' for the perceptions, but these raw data are then combined with the mental processes to create the world we experience. It is not likely that any of us can experience a “pure sensation,” because any sensation we have is automatically elaborated upon.
In lower animals, the patterns of reaction to sensations seem to be innate. In higher organisms, especially humans, these reactions are organized and altered by cultural values, learning, and thinking. When talking about sensation, we said that humans were quite animal-like, but now that we are talking about perception, we are considering the more God-like aspects of human awareness as shown in the lower right part of Figure 4:1 (Awareness-perception). This is not to say that animals do not also organize their world, but it is to say that human beings do it in a more culturally influenced, meaningful, cognitive way than animals. We are made in God's image, and this has an influence on how we perceive the world around us.
Perception enables us to organize the many incoming impulses into some stable form or figure. We do not perceive the world around us as bits of color, brightness, loudness, or pitch; we perceive things around us. We see houses, trees, and people. We hear trains, animals, and words spoken in our language. The most fundamental perceptual process is the capacity to form figures and see (or hear) them on a background. Certain stimuli are seen as belonging together to form an object (figure) that stands out from the background, which seems to be relatively formless and extends continuously behind the figure. The figure seen or heard often depends on the culture of the observer and what he or she is expecting to see. Furthermore, through selective attention, our brains select only certain stimuli to which they will attend. We need to realize that different people perceive the world differently, depending on what their past experience is and what their culture makes them expect to see. Missionaries will find the same thing when interacting with nationals who may view the same situation quite differently. It is extremely important to find out how different people involved view the situation. Perception includes both the organization of the stimuli and the interpretation of the stimuli.
Organization and Interpretation
Following are two ambiguous figures that can be interpreted in at least two ways regardless of one’s cultural background. When people look at Figure 4:2, most of them report seeing a woman. However, some say they see a young woman, and others say they see an old woman. The visual stimuli are the same for everyone, but people organize those stimuli differently. If they concentrate, most people can make themselves see both the young lady and the old lady. Older people tend to see the old woman first and younger people tend to see the younger first.
Figure 4:2. Do you see a young woman or an old woman? Can you make yourself see them both, one after the other?
(Hint: The old woman’s eye is the young woman’s ear.)
Women are viewed very differently from one culture to another. If the culture is one which basically views women as “property,” people may think of the young woman in terms of dowry or someone who could bear a son. If the culture is a matriarchal one which respects age, the older woman may be seen as a wise person.
When looking at Figure 4:3, people usually report seeing a duck or a rabbit. Again the visual stimuli are exactly the same, but some organize them as a bird and others as an animal. Again animals are viewed very differently from culture to culture. In America a cow may be viewed as a source of food, something to be killed and eaten. Such would not be the case in India.
Figure 4:3. Do you see a duck or a rabbit? Can you make yourself see them both, one after the other?
(Hint: The duck’s bill is the rabbit’s ear.)
If you can look at the same set of stimuli and see them two different ways, just imagine how easy it is for people raised in different cultures with a variety of visual stimuli to perceive objects and situations in very different ways because of their cultures. Figure 4:4 is called the Necker Cube, and it shows how people within and between cultures may vary in how they organize the lines.
Figure 4:4. The Necker Cube. What do you see?
People from cultures which have many three dimensional objects, such as boxes in which they put things and rooms in which they live, usually see a “transparent” cube. Some of them say that the square on the left is the near side of the cube while others say that the square on the right is the near side. However, people born blind or going blind as infants and recovering sight as adults or people reared in cultures with no rectangular structures see only two dimensional lines (which they actually are), not as a three dimensional figure at all.
For further information about specific topics in perception click on the following links to parts of Chapter 4 in Dewey’s on-line text.
Spiritual Perception
Let us now consider how perception is related to the areas above it in Figure 4:1. As was pointed out in chapter 3, we are spiritual beings, and thus we are capable of spiritual perception. Things are not always as they appear to be. When the King of Syria sent a great number of horses and chariots that surrounded the city where Elisha was, Elisha's servant was very frightened. Then Elisha asked God to open the servant's eyes so that he could see that those with him were more than those against him. The servant then saw that the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire around Elisha (2 Kings 6).
The best examples of spiritual perception are summarized in the “faith” chapter, Hebrews 11. Faith is defined as perceiving as real fact that which is not revealed to the senses (Amplified). It is by faith that we can understand that the world we see is framed by the Word of God: the things we see were made out of things not visible. Noah was warned by God about things not yet seen and he responded to this warning by building an ark, which saved him and his family. Moses left Egypt because he endured as one who saw him who is invisible, God. Many more individuals could be cited from this chapter who saw through the eyes of faith. Missionaries need to develop their spiritual perception, and that of the nationals, because we read that without such faith it is impossible to please God. Since faith may be a special form of perception and since perception depends on past experiences, faith too, depends on past experience. Just as perception is modified by experience, faith is changed by experience.
ESP
Our ordinary perceptions are initiated by sensory stimuli. Many people believe that humans can perceive objects without making use of the usual stimuli of light, sounds, temperature, pressure, chemicals, and so forth. This capacity to perceive without making use of these known sensory inputs is called extrasensory perception. Although many Christians have rejected extrasensory perception as a part of occult mysticism, from our perspective, we see at least some of ESP as an aspect of the image of God in humans. Of course, other aspects may relate to the occult.
Since humans are made in God's image, they can communicate with him in an extrasensory manner, we call it prayer. When Hannah was “praying in her heart,” her lips were moving but Eli could not hear her, so he accused her of being drunk. God heard her prayer and answered it (1 Samuel 1:12-20). Likewise, God communicates with us without the use of our senses. Paul wrote that the Spirit of God tells our human spirits that we are God’s children (Romans 8:16).
At times individuals knew where things were without any sensory evidence. For example, Moses struck the rock, and water came out for the people to drink (Exodus 17:5-6). At other times people do not even know what to pray for, and the Spirit intercedes for us in ways that cannot be expressed in words (Romans 8:26).
For further information about specific topics in extra sensory perception click on the following links to parts of Chapter 4 in Dewey’s on-line text.
States of Consciousness
Up to this point we have been talking about sensation and perception when the individual is awake and in a normal state of awareness. Psychologists have traditionally spent most of their time studying sensation and perception under these conditions, but in recent years many have turned to the study of sensation and perception under altered states of consciousness. As more people voluntarily altered their states of awareness by taking drugs and using different meditation techniques, psychologists became interested in sensation and perception under these conditions.
Although the study of consciousness was the initial subject matter of psychology, that study all but disappeared when behaviorism dominated psychology. Since Watson (1913 http://pages.pomona.edu/~rt004747/lgcs11read/Watson13.pdf ) knew of no objective way to study consciousness, he concluded that it must be discarded as a part of the subject matter of scientific psychology. Although psychoanalysts did include consciousness as a component of the mind, it was a very small part and not nearly as important in determining behavior as the much larger unconscious. However, during the 1960s, many young people began experimenting with drugs and Eastern religions that altered consciousness. With these questions being raised about altered states of consciousness, psychologists began to turn their attention to these states and found some changes that could be studied by the methods of science.
From our Christian perspective we welcome this change, because consciousness is a God-like attribute of humans, as shown in the lower central part of Figure 4:1 (States of Consciousness). Of course, psychologists never eliminated the study of consciousness from psychology, because the study of sensation and perception is really the study of consciousness, but it is good to see it recognized again. Now we consider some other states of consciousness.
For further information about specific topics in consciousness click on the following links to parts of Chapter 3 in Dewey’s on-line text.
Sleep
Sleep is not a state of total unconsciousness because we all have dreams during the night and can carry out simple plans while asleep. Although many people say they consider sleeping a waste of time, they spend many hours sleeping when given the chance. We can lose a few hours of sleep one night, or even a whole night's sleep, and function relatively normally the next day. However, if we try to miss several nights' sleep in a row, dramatic effects begin to occur. When one remains awake between 50 and 100 hours, one reaches a turning point where changes become severe, with the appearance of delusions and hallucinations.
Since we know that we do need some sleep, the next question is how much. There is no simple answer, although research has found some general facts. In general, the older you get, the less sleep you need. Infants may spend sixteen hours of each day in sleep, but this declines to about ten hours per day by ten years of age. The decline continues throughout life, so that most college students need about eight hours of sleep, but most retired people function well on seven hours a night. However, individuals vary widely, so there is no point in trying to be average. Some need ten hours of sleep, including a nap, and that is their particular need and they should get it. Others only need seven, and there is no point to lying in bed the extra hour. Trying to get eight hours is like trying to wear size ten or size seven shoes on size eight feet.
God’s people from time to time have had difficulty sleeping. Through no fault of his own Job experienced great stress and said, “I have been allotted months of futility, and nights of misery have been assigned to me. When I lie down I think, ‘How long before I get up?’ The night drags on, and I toss till dawn” (Job7:3-4).
Even great political leaders like King Darius agonized over poor decisions that endangered his friends, and he found himself unable to eat or sleep (Daniel 6:18).
However Scripture has promises for good sleep, such as “When you lie down, you will not be afraid; when you lie down, your sleep will be sweet” (Proverbs 3:24). Another promise is, “I will lie down and sleep in peace, for you alone, O LORD, make me dwell in safety” (Psalm 4:8).
After receiving a message from God, the prophet Jeremiah awoke, looked around and said that his sleep had been pleasant to him (Jeremiah 31:26). Our Lord himself slept during a furious storm, much to the surprise of his disciples (Matthew 8:24).
Peter, early preacher and church leader, was sleeping between two soldiers bound with two chains with two sentries standing guard the night before he was to be brought to trial (Acts 12:6).
Yet, Christian workers may have difficulty sleeping at times; however, not all such difficulties are necessary. God may enable us to sleep at peace even in the most difficult circumstances.
· Establish a sleep routine. The most important part of that routine is to get up at the same time each morning. The second most important is to do things in the same order and at the same time just before you go to bed each night.
· Do not lie in bed more than 15-20 minutes trying to get to sleep. Get up and do something boring and not physically taxing, such as polishing your shoes or even just cutting strips of paper. Then go to bed when you get drowsy. Repeat this as often as necessary.
· Do not use the bed for anything except sleep and sex. Do not read, watch TV, have devotions, etc. If you want to read, do so in a chair next to the bed, and get into bed when you get drowsy. You want your bed to be associated with sleep and rest, not with wakefulness and activity.
· Do not exercise vigorously within two hours of bedtime. Do exercise vigorously at some time during the day.
· Do not do serious thinking at the end of the day just before you go to bed. Do it earlier so that you can relax before bedtime.
· If you are anxious at bedtime, consider journaling to get those anxious thoughts out of your head and onto paper.
· Pray at night to turn everything over to God. Ask him for sleep.
· Ask other people to pray for your sleep problem.
· Make confession a part of your nightly prayers if you keep thinking about your shortcomings. Pray for protection during the night if you have fears about that.
· If nightmares are a problem, write them down and add a happy, redemptive, resolving ending. Ask Christ to come into that dream and deal with it.
· Check your medications to see if they have side effects that interfere with sleep. Your physician or pharmacist can give you that information, or you may have noticed that your sleep problem started when you began a new medication.
· Find information about sleep disorders on the Internet at sites such as the one maintained by the National Library of Medicine at http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/sleepdisorders.html or the one maintained by the National Sleep Foundation at http://www.sleepfoundation.org/. These web sites have numerous links to reliable information about sleep disorders. (Remember that the domains .gov and .edu tend to be the most reliable.)
· If you want to listen to music, use soothing instrumental music rather than vocal music.
· For more suggestions see http://www.missionarycare.com/brochures/ss_sleep.htm.
You may not be able to do all of these things, and none of them work for everyone. However, all of them have helped some people, and one or more of them may be just what you need to get a good night’s sleep.
For further information about specific topics in sleep and dreaming click on the following links to parts of Chapter 3 in Dewey’s on-line text.
Dreams
During the study of sleep, psychologists noted that the eyes of a sleeping subject begin to make rapid movements periodically during the night. The two most basic stages of sleep now appear to be REM (rapid-eye-movement) sleep, and NREM (non-rapid-eye-movement) sleep, and we need both to function normally. At first, psychologists thought that dreaming took place only during REM sleep, but we have now found that dreaming takes place during both. Many people have asked what, if anything, dreams mean. Some think that dreams are simply confused, crude thinking like that done by senile people or people under the influence of some drug, such as alcohol. Others have argued that the contents of our dreams are influenced by the events we have experienced or are anticipating. The major theory for the interpretation of dreams for many years was that of Sigmund Freud, the psychoanalyst. Freud believed that dream analysis was one of the major ways of investigating the contents of the unconscious. Today a search of the Internet reveals many approaches to the interpretation of dreams.
The interpretation of dreams has long has a long history in Christianity. There are about fifteen dreams recorded in the Old Testament, most of them coming at the beginning of vital stages in Israel's history. In the New Testament, dreams are again essential to the beginning of the Christian faith. Dreams are referred to as frightening things in some instances. In others, writers portray God speaking through dreams. In the prophecy of God's pouring his spirit on humanity, Joel noted that some would dream dreams and others would see visions (Joel 2:28, quoted in Acts 2:17). Here are some other major references to dreams in the Bible.
· Jacob’s dream of the stairway to heaven (Genesis 28:12)
· Joseph’s dreams of the sheaves, sun, moon, and stars (Genesis 37:5-11)
· Dreams of the cupbearer, baker, and pharaoh interpreted by Joseph (Genesis 40-41)
· Nebuchadnezzar’s dream interpreted by Daniel (Daniel 2)
· Joseph’s dream of the angel (Matthew 1:20-24)
· The Magi’s dream of warning (Matthew 2:12)
· Joseph’s dream of another angel (Matthew 2:13)
Since dreams are a way God has spoken to humans in the past, we should take a closer look at them. Rather than ignoring them, abandoning their interpretation to such systems as psychoanalysis, or dismissing them as caused by something we ate, we need to examine the content of dreams from a Christian point of view. We must have a more positive view of dreaming, that it is a potential means of communication from God to humans.
For further information about specific topics in dreaming click on the following links to parts of Chapter 3 in Dewey’s on-line text.
Visions
Related to the altered states of consciousness that make up a part of our Christian faith. God frequently communicated with humans through visions, but we must be careful to distinguish between visions from God, visions induced by drugs, and the hallucinations of the mentally ill.
God Speaking through Visions. God seemed to use visions at major turning points in the history of his people, just as he used dreams.
· God appeared to Abram in a vision to promise him a son when he thought he would have none (Genesis 15:1-4).
· He spoke to Jacob in a vision to tell him to not be afraid to go down into Egypt (Genesis 46:2-4).
· God used a vision to send Ananias to see Saul, who had just experienced a vision of Jesus (Acts 9:10-16).
· He used a vision to persuade Cornelius to send for Peter and a vision to enlighten Peter concerning the Gentiles (Acts 10:1-3).
· On his second missionary journey, it was a vision that made Paul decide to change his route and go over into Macedonia (Acts 16:9-10).
There were also visions of God and things that were not describable in human language.
· When Isaiah saw the Lord, he described seraphims having six wings, crying “Holy, Holy, Holy,” and the house filled with smoke (Isaiah 6).
· When Ezekiel saw the Lord, he saw a whirlwind, a cloud, a fire, wheels, and rings, and heard loud noises (Ezekiel 1).
· When the apostle John had a vision while on the island of Patmos, he heard a loud voice behind him and he saw Christ with hair white like wool or snow, eyes like fire, and feet like brass (Revelation 1).
· When Peter, James, and John went with Jesus into a high mountain, they and saw him transfigured and had difficulty describing Jesus (Mark 9).
· When the apostle Paul wrote about his vision of paradise which he called the “third heaven,” he was not sure whether he was in or out of the body and said that while there he heard unspeakable words (2 Corinthians 12).
Visions and Hallucinations. In some circles it is no longer quite “respectable” for Christians to have visions. Some Christians believe that visions ended with the Book of Acts and that anyone who has them now is somewhat suspect. They are prone to call such things hallucinations and try to explain them away. However, God did communicate with humans in visions and he can still do so. As Christian psychologists, we need to develop criteria for distinguishing between visions and hallucinations. Secular psychologists are not going to develop these, so it is our responsibility. God can communicate with us through visions, and we must not automatically dismiss his communication as a mere hallucination.
For example in May 1979, a man was convicted in federal court for lying on his tax forms. He told the jury that “The Lord told me not to pay income taxes and get out from under it the best I could.” He said that he had claimed forty exemptions when only entitled to three “because the Lord told me to.” When asked whether or not he had filed a tax return for the current year, he would not reply, saying, “That's between me and God, and he's dealing with me.” One might question whether or not God actually told him to do this.
There are probably at least two criteria for judging whether an experience is a vision from God or an hallucination. First, is the vision consistent with Scripture? As much as we all hate to pay taxes, we need to see what the Bible has to say about paying taxes to see whether or not this man's experience was from God. We also need to see what the Bible has to say about lying, claiming 40 exemptions when entitled to only three. A second criterion for distinguishing between visions and hallucinations is found in looking at the other behaviors of the individuals having the “visions.” A walk through the wards of most mental hospitals will reveal many people who claim to have visions from God, but other aspects of their lives reveal behavior out of touch with reality. They also claim to be Napoleon or Jesus Christ returned at his second coming. Although you say one could really be Jesus returned to earth, what do you do when three men on the same ward make the same claim? They cannot all be Jesus. At least two of them have to be wrong!
Meditation
Many religions suggest the use of meditation as part of their practice. This encyclopedia entry lists more than a dozen types of meditation http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meditation , and only two are classified as “Secular.” One of those was Transcendental Meditation, commonly known as TM.
Transcendental Meditation. The leader of the Transcendental Meditation movement is Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, who left India in 1958 to begin a tour of the West. Within fifteen years he had inspired about a half million meditators. During a brief training, meditators are given a secret “mantra” (meaningless sound) to be repeated during meditation whenever their minds wander to concrete thoughts. The goal of meditators is unity with the impersonal god, and they reach this by the repetition of the secret mantra for twenty minutes each morning and evening. This leads to a state of consciousness without any specific objects or subjects, a state of unity with the impersonal god. According to the Maharishi's philosophy, the observable world is neither real nor unreal, but it is always changing. Meditators wish to go beyond all thought to a state of pure awareness.
Many people report only a sense of calmness when meditating, a state of being relaxed and relieved of the tensions of everyday life. However, some report more dramatic changes in consciousness. For example, subjects who meditated on a blue vase several times a week for three weeks came to see the vase as more vivid or saw changes in the apparent size and shape of the vase. Some experienced a sense of merging with the vase. Others said that the vase seemed to take on a life of its own. They also reported tingling sensations or other unusual bodily sensations.
Though TM was first considered to be secular and was taught in some public schools, people began to realize that it was really a religion, Hinduism. Both the U. S. District Court (New Jersey) and the U. S Court of Appeals have ruled that it is fundamentally a religion and forbade its being taught in public schools. For more information about TM, see the following site.
http://www.allaboutreligion.org/transcendental-meditation.htm
Many people begin Transcendental Meditation without understanding the Hindu philosophy of religion behind it. The ultimate goal of meditators is to lose their individuality in pure Being, mere abstract Being. Transcendental Meditation is a version of the Hindu religion, and advanced meditators find themselves adopting Mahirishi Mahesh Yogi's Hindu philosophy. Even some Christians do not realize that Transcendental Meditation is a form of a different religion and simply see it as a good way to relax and reduce tension.
Christian Meditation. This does not mean that Christians should not meditate. The Bible contains many passages calling us to meditation.
· God told Joshua to meditate on his Word “day and night'' so that he would act according to what was in it (Joshua 1:8).
· The apostle Paul urged Timothy to meditate on the things of God and to give himself completely to them.
· Not only are we told to meditate on God's law day and night, but when we are in a right relationship to him, we find that this is a delight (Psalm 1:2).
As Christians, we certainly are to meditate, but not to strive to go beyond all thought to a state of pure awareness. Christian meditation is centered on God himself. Our mind is guided by the Scripture under the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
Missionaries need to encourage nationals to do a study of what the Bible says about meditation and encourage them to practice Christian meditation. In our rushed age, twenty minutes morning and night meditating on God and his Word will bring relaxation and peace.
For further information about specific topics in meditation click on the following links to parts of Chapter 3 in Dewey’s on-line text.
Drugs
Psychoactive drugs that affect the central nervous system as stimulants, depressants, and hallucinogens were discussed in Chapter 2. These increase the activity of the nervous system, decrease the activity of the nervous system, or disrupt the activity of the nervous system. Nearly all cultures approve of the use of some of these drugs and disapprove of the use of others. Some of them are for sale at grocery stores; others are illegal and result in arrest.
Around the turn of the century the use of illegal drugs decreased so that many people thought we were winning the war on drug abuse. Headlines such as “Teenage Drug Abuse and Smoking Decline” appeared year after year. However, what was happening was that people were replacing the illegal drugs with legal ones. Instead of following the directions for prescription and over-the-counter drugs, they were crushing, overdosing, or using the available drugs to change the effects on consciousness.
By 2004 Vicodin, Oxycontin, Ritalin/Adderall, and Cough medicine were all more likely to be abused than were Crack/cocaine, Meth, LSD, and Heroin. Vicodin and Oxycontin are powerful painkillers. Ritalin and Adderall are used for the treatment of ADHD, and cough medicine for common cold symptoms.
People bought (or shoplifted) Sudafed, a decongestant and used it to make methamphetamines from simple “recipes” found on the internet. People discovered that Coricidin HBP Cough & Cold contained dextromethorphan which would make them high. Coricidin became known as Triple C, skittles, candy, robo, and red devils. The chemical is found in over the counter cough suppressants, such as Robitussin, Drixoral, Vicks formula 44, etc.—over 140 over-the-counter products in all.
The statistics change annually, but one can get the latest available data on the Monitoring The Future survey of high school students at http://monitoringthefuture.org/. This survey has been given to 50,000 high school students every year since 1975, so trends can be followed. More general information about drugs can be found at the National Institute of Drug Abuse at www.nida.nih.gov.
Finally, some adolescents think they have found a drug-free high in the “Choking Game.” The basic idea is to keep oxygen from reaching the brain so that the person gets a “high” as they pass out and a second “high” as they regain consciousness as the blood rushes back. It is also known as Space Monkey, Knockout, Pass Out, Black Hole, Funky Chicken and many other names. It is often done using a rope or belt to one’s self or others and is most likely at middle-school age. Of course, depriving brain cells of oxygen even a few minutes is very dangerous and may lead to permanent damage or death. Further information is at http://chokinggame.net/index.html.
Conclusion
Psychology began as the study of awareness when Wilhelm Wundt defined psychology as the study of consciousness and proceeded to look for its “elements.” Psychologists still study the three elements Wundt thought he discovered: sensations, images, and emotions.
Sensations and the resulting perceptions have been integral parts of psychology for its entire modern history. Though sensations may be much the same all over the world, people of different cultures may perceive things quite differently because of how their cultures view things.
Likewise, people living in different cultures may have very different views of altered states of consciousness. They vary on what drugs are considered acceptable and unacceptable. They also vary in their views of what kinds of religious influences on such things as meditation are acceptable and unacceptable. Culture has a great influence on awareness.