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Dissociation is a ubiquitous psychic process, differentiated from the psychopathology of dissociative disorders. Dissociation may be defensive, adaptive, or protective, and may serve multiple functions. Clinically, dissociation generally involves denial, isolation, and various forms of splitting of the self and the go. Altered states of consciousness are characteristic of dissociation. Dissociative disorder may be transient or enduring, entailing division of the personality without fill conscious awareness of the divided self. Dissociative disorders are typically a consequence of severe, protracted trauma, or a serious disturbance of the infantile primary object relationship. These disorders are closely associated with borderline personality, propensity for regression, and significant disturbance of identity and reality. Clinical illustrations of dissociate disorder here include an adult bipolar patient with a severely traumatic childhood, and an adult male who experienced traumatic childhood mother-son i...

The article reviews the current knowledge regarding altered states of consciousness (ASC) (a) occurring spontaneously, (b) evoked by physical and physiological stimulation, (c) induced by psychological means, and (d) caused by diseases. The emphasis is laid on psychological and neurobiological approaches. The phenomenological analysis of the multiple ASC resulted in 4 dimensions by which they can be characterized: activation, awareness span, self-awareness, and sensory dynamics. The neurophysiological approach revealed that the different states of consciousness are mainly brought about by a compromised brain structure, transient changes in brain dynamics (disconnectivity), and neurochemical and metabolic processes. Besides these severe alterations, environmental stimuli, mental practices, and techniques of self-control can also temporarily alter brain functioning and conscious experience.

Spirituality and religion are acknowledged as playing a vital role in psychological coping within monotheistic (especially Christian) and American populations. Other traditions, however, remain largely absent from the coping literature. In addition, the bulk of the work consists of quantitative methods, so the examination of the constructs remains limited. In the present study, a 49-year old Caucasian woman living in northern Indiana in the U.S. is interviewed about her use of shamanistic beliefs and rituals to cope with bulimia. Content analyses reveal that over the course of the interview, she identifies shamanic rituals as facilitating a change from feeling powerless to feeling empowered to alter the bulimic behaviors. Related themes concerning energy and strength also emerge and stand in relation to an expression of the importance of an internalized system of beliefs. These observations align with the predominately monotheistic American literature, suggesting that principles of religious and spiritual coping may be meaningful in the context of other traditions.

Sometimes strange states of consciousness can reveal a lot about how we normally construct reality

Because no studies have examined learning in hypnosis in an academic setting, the current study tested whether learning in hypnosis impacts test performance. Participants (N = 43) were randomly assigned into a hypnosis or a control group. Participants listened to an academic lecture, answered questions about their hypnotic depth, and completed a quiz based on the lecture. The data was analyzed using multilevel modeling predicting test performance from group placement. Learning in the hypnosis predicted significantly worse performance compared to the control group. This relationship was significantly mediated by attention, which had a positive relationship to test performance. However, the altered state of awareness produced by the hypnosis condition was associated with a more significant decrease in test performance.

Anthropologists working on altered states of consciousness (ASC) have suggested that we should do away with psychologizing concepts and use people's own terms for these experiences. With material drawn from the Orang Sakai of Sumatra this paper shows that practitioners who utilize ASC do recognize the alteration of states of awareness as preconditions for numinous interactions. Also critically discussed is the term ASC.

A controversy in the field of hypnosis has centered on the question of whether there is a uniquely hypnotic state of consciousness and, if so, whether it is causally related to responsiveness to suggestion. Evidence from brain imaging studies has been used to support claims for various altered state hypotheses, without resolving the debate. The designs of many neuroimaging studies confound the induction of hypnosis with the suggestions that can be given in or out of hypnosis, thus rendering them incapable of resolving the controversy. Brain imaging studies that do not have this confound support the hypothesis that hypnotic inductions produce changes in brain activity, but also indicate that these changes are not required for the experience of hypnotic suggestions or their neural correlates. The data remain equivocal as to whether there is a causal relation between the changes in brain activity produced by hypnotic inductions and those produced by other suggestions. It also remains uncertain whether the changes in activation produced by hypnotic inductions reflect a uniquely hypnotic state as opposed to more mundane processes.

The construction of highways has changed the state of the atmospheric flow field around this area. Adopting the model of SST k-ω，this paper carries out a numerical simulation of the atmospheric flow field around the highway. The affected area of highways with different parameters on surrounding atmospheric flow field and the altered state of flow filed are studied.

Few people crave for popularity, few for power and few for money, but there is very very small category of people who simply focus on their work and rest everything follows them in abundance" The aim of this review is to emphasize on Anxiety which is one of the common mental state in day to day to life due to traumatic events and stressful lifestyle, influence of others in our lives and absence of relaxation in schedule. Anxiety has been neglected both by the operators and patients. However, many studies have proved association of Anxiety with increased pain during dental treatment, muscle contractions and altered state of concentration in everyday activities. This review includes aspect of anxiety, its causes, recognition, prevention and management.

Today Madagascar officially celebrates two national holidays. 29 March is dedicated to the memory of anticolonial resistance in 1947, the commemoration of the dead and the decoration of surviving combatants. 26 June in contrast is celebrated as Madagascar's return to independence in 1960 with parades, cultural performances, singing and dancing. But consecutive governments have altered state politics of commemoration and non-state actors have influenced the way in which 1947 and 1960 are remembered.This study of national days in Madagascar offers an interpretation of the different ways the two key events of national history have been remembered within the fifty years since Independence. Looking into complexities of commemorative practices we question the juxtaposition of commemorating sad events and celebrating joyful ones. Commemoration and celebration make up two poles of a continuum on which the valence memory-making can be placed. We notice that both ends are manifest in nationwide commemorative activi...