Questions on Psychology: Sleep and Stress

Question 1: Significance of Dreams and Sleep

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In the case scenario mentioned, the discovery of a magic pill that has the ability of preventing an individual from experiencing sleep and dreams all together can be very detrimental to the health of an individual. The common fact of life is that sleep is important though many people cannot explain why? Psychology offers an explanation of the significance of sleep cycles among human beings and animals all together. The deprivation of sleep is known to cause fatal damage to the brain and can lead to imminent death if the lack of sleep is deprived. Insomnia is a case where an individual is unable to sleep and has to be aided using pills to help them sleep. Below is an outlook of the importance of sleep and dreams to a living being (Otte & Carpenter, 2009).

Sleep has been known to be therapeutically for all human beings and animals on the planet; it is a natural mechanism initiated by the brain calling for a reduced level of functionality of the body and rest is imitated. Sleep is important in rest and the restoration of the body functionalities. It is assumed by many psychologists that the body needs to hibernate for a short period of time for it to continue functioning. The deprivation of sleep means the deprivation of rest, and this can be fatal to the human body. The brain needs to rest and take a break from the daily activities that ones engages in; fatigue is released when one sleeps, and this actions refreshes the brain and helps it to restore its functionalities. Evidence shows that a lack of sleep does affect the moods of an individual, the cognitive functioning of the individuals and during delta sleep, the flow of blood to the cerebrum is highly reduced ("Dreams may have an important physiological function", 2016).sssIn other cases, dreams have always been a controversial topic in many psychologists fora. The deprivation of sleep means that one does not get to dream, in many cases, people do not realize that dreams have their uses that others highly disregard. Dreams have been known for centuries to be used to diagnose illnesses. The Shamans used dreams to determine if an individual is possessed by an angry spirit. The modern day shamans are Freud and Jung who have analyzed dreams for decades, their basis of research in personality analysis. Dreams are known to be avenues where an individual outlives the lives they live during daytimes; people are able to be wholly themselves during sleep. In other cases psychologist have been able to conclude that dreams have a way of helping the brain analyses what is important, this goes to the sub conscious the rest is deleted.

Sleep and dreams are vital to the normal functioning of a human being, the deprivation of sleep can cause an error in the system which is fatal to the body. It is important to understand that human beings cannot do without sleep hence the use of a magic pill to deprive sleep and reams is not valid.

Question 2: Sleep Disturbances

Sleep disturbances come in the way of a great sleep time. There are theories that describe factors that impede an individual from sleeping well over a period of the recommended 8 hours of sleep time. A common sleep disorder is Insomnia, this is a medical condition where an individual is unable to get sleep. In this case scenario, the brain is unable to initialize the body to sleep. This sleep disorder affects only 1% of the worlds population. Medical interventions were developed to help individual to attain rest through induced sleep.

Restless Leg Syndrome is another causative agent for a sleep disorder. Individuals with restless leg syndrome causes a big percentage of sleep disorders among many patients, especially among cancer patients. Obstructive sleep apnea, periodic limb movement and other disorders like daytime sleeping causes night time sleeping disorders ("Stress Effects on the Body", 2016).

Question3: Psychology and Physiology

Psychological dependence is the situation where an individual is not able to function from a cognitive level normally without inducing a given drug that he/she is dependent on. Different individuals have different psychological dependence such as the pill, substances like cocaine or any other drugs like anxiety pills. Psychological dependence is one that is induced by the continuous use of a given drug that affects the individuals cognitive functionality. Drugs such as opiates like; morphine and heroine, and psychedelics like; ecstasy and marijuana affect the individual cognitive abilities which in many cases causes psychological dependence across many groups of patients. Physiological dependence is the kind of dependence that affects the individuals physical abilities. Taking for instance when one is dependent on coffee to function well. Other drugs like pain suppressors and concentration pills helps to induce a short time feeling of normal physical function from the body. Psychological dependence affects the cognitive functioning of an individual mainly the brain. On the other hand physiological dependence is one that affects the bodily or physical function of the individual. Depressants such as valium and stimulants like caffeine affect the physiology of the body; this causes physiological dependence ("Main Categories of Psychoactive drugs", 2016).

Question 4: Stress and Effects to Psychoneuroimmunology

Medically stress has been proven to be cause a large number of physiological effect to the body that is highly detrimental to the body. Stress has been determined to cause cardiovascular, reproductive, gastrointestinal and endocrine problems. In many cases, people experiencing stress in their body end up having symptoms such as headaches, stomach upsets, increased pressure, chest pains and sleeping problems.

Looking into the psychological effects of stress experienced by an individual. Medically speaking, stress is known to cause cognitive impairment in the sense that an individual is unable to focus on the activities going on in their environment. Psychologically stress causes one to be too indulged on their problems; this mostly causes isolation. Isolation, in the long run, causes one to move to suicidal tendencies. The most common causes of psychological stress include financial problems, fear of impending danger, sicknesses like cancer and many others. In many cases, stress leads to psychological problems such as suicidal tendencies, dejection of self, low self-esteem and moody behaviors. Generally, the psych immunology of an individual is affected as both the body and the brain is affected (Otte & Carpenter, 2009).

People with stress tend to move towards unhealthy behavioral habits, for instance, suicidal tendencies and disassociation with people. When someone is under stress they tend to single themselves out of people, the next part that ensues is the adoption of suicidal tendencies. Individuals under stress tend to resolve to suicide as a simple solution to their problems. Psychologically these individuals are in agony, and medical attention is required. In direct health behaviors such as anger spurts, low concentration in the ability to relax can cause problems like high blood pressure and other diseases such as diabetes. It is important to reduce the occurrence of such tendencies at an early stage to avoid unforeseen problems.

Question 5: Money and Stress

For a long time now money has been related to happiness, many theorists declare that with possession of money many individuals end up less stressed. Looking at these propositions with a sober mind, money gives one access to places one wishes to visit, acquire commodities and even treat oneself to services that were preceded expensive when one was broke. Money is an avenue to success. Many people regard that money gives you happiness; this is arguably true and false at the same time. True happiness in not achieved through the possession of money. The fact of life is that there are individuals who are fancily poor, but they are happy, rich in a different sense. As the saying goes that even the rich cry implies that money is not the solution to all our problems (Otte & Carpenter, 2009). Money just gives one an opportunity to get whatever one wants at the time they want it. In the case that one expects to be happier after winning a lottery is a big fallacy as true happiness is not achieved through a million dollar personal balance sheet. True happiness comes with being in harmony with yourself, family and friends. Psychologist propose that people get true happiness out of being at peace with themselves, money does not buy inner peace. Money does not absolve the animosity in your family or solve your fights with your friends. Money is an enabler but not the source of happiness.

References

Dreams may have an important physiological function. (2016). Phys.org. Retrieved 17 September 2016, from http://phys.org/news/2009-11-important-physiological-function.html

Main Categories of Psychoactive drugs. (2016). GAVS_APpsych_mckinneyhartdougherty. Retrieved 17 September 2016, from http://gavsappsychmckinneyhartdougherty.weebly.com/main-categories-of-psychoactive-drugs.html

Otte, J. & Carpenter, J. (2009). Theories, Models, and Frameworks Related to Sleep-Wake Disturbances in the Context of Cancer. Cancer Nursing, 32(2), 90-104. http://dx.doi.org/10.1097/01.ncc.0000339261.06442.7d

Stress Effects on the Body. (2016). http://www.apa.org. Retrieved 17 September 2016, from http://www.apa.org/helpcenter/stress-body.aspx

Stress Symptoms: Effects of Stress on the Body. (2016). WebMD. Retrieved 17 September 2016, from http://www.webmd.com/balance/stress-management/stress-symptoms-effects_of-stress-on-the-body