National Sleep Research Project

-The record for the longest period without sleep is 18 days, 21 hours, 40 minutes during a rocking chair marathon. The record holder reported hallucinations, paranoia, blurred vision, slurred speech and memory and concentration lapses.

– It’s impossible to tell if someone is really awake without close medical supervision. People can take cat naps with their eyes open without even being aware of it.

– Anything less than five minutes to fall asleep at night means you’re sleep deprived. The ideal is between 10 and 15 minutes, meaning you’re still tired enough to sleep deeply, but not so exhausted you feel sleepy by day.

– A new baby typically results in 400-750 hours lost sleep for parents in the first year

– One of the best predictors of insomnia later in life is the development of bad habits from having sleep disturbed by young children.

– The continuous brain recordings that led to the discovery of REM (rapid eye-movement) sleep were not done until 1953, partly because the scientists involved were concerned about wasting paper.

– REM sleep occurs in bursts totaling about 2 hours a night, usually beginning about 90 minutes after falling asleep.

– Dreams, once thought to occur only during REM sleep, also occur (but to a lesser extent) in non-REM sleep phases. It’s possible there may not be a single moment of our sleep when we are actually dreamless.

– REM dreams are characterized by bizarre plots, but non-REM dreams are repetitive and thought-like, with little imagery – obsessively returning to a suspicion you left your mobile phone somewhere, for example.

– Certain types of eye movements during REM sleep correspond to specific movements in dreams, suggesting at least part of the dreaming process is analogous to watching a film

– No-one knows for sure if other species dream but some do have sleep cycles similar to humans.

– Elephants sleep standing up during non-REM sleep, but lie down for REM sleep.

– Some scientists believe we dream to fix experiences in long-term memory, that is, we dream about things worth remembering. Others reckon we dream about things worth forgetting – to eliminate overlapping memories that would otherwise clog up our brains.

– Dreams may not serve any purpose at all but be merely a meaningless byproduct of two evolutionary adaptations – sleep and consciousness.

– REM sleep may help developing brains mature. Premature babies have 75 per cent REM sleep, 10 per cent more than full-term bubs. Similarly, a newborn kitten, puppy, rat, or hamsters experiences only REM sleep, while a newborn guinea pig (which is much more developed at birth) has almost no REM sleep at all.

– Scientists have not been able to explain a 1998 study showing a bright light shone on the backs of human knees can reset the brain’s sleep-wake clock.

– British Ministry of Defense researchers have been able to reset soldiers’ body clocks so they can go without sleep for up to 36 hrs. Tiny optical fibers embedded in special spectacles project a ring of bright white light (with a spectrum identical to a sunrise) around the edge of soldiers’ retinas, fooling them into thinking they have just woken up. The system was first used on US pilots during the bombing of Kosovo.

– Seventeen hours of sustained wakefulness leads to a decrease in performance equivalent to a blood alcohol-level of 0.05%.

– The 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill off Alaska, the Challenger space shuttle disaster and the Chernobyl nuclear accident have all been attributed to human errors in which sleep-deprivation played a role.

– The NRMA estimates fatigue is involved in one in 6 fatal road accidents.

– Exposure to noise at night can suppress immune function even if the sleeper doesn’t wake. Unfamiliar noise, and noise during the first and last two hours of sleep, has the greatest disruptive effect on the sleep cycle.

– The “natural alarm clock” which enables some people to wake up more or less when they want to is caused by a burst of the stress hormone adrenocorticotropin. Researchers say this reflects an unconscious anticipation of the stress of waking up.

– Some sleeping tablets, such as barbiturates suppress REM sleep, which can be harmful over a long period.

– In insomnia following bereavement, sleeping pills can disrupt grieving.

– Tiny luminous rays from a digital alarm clock can be enough to disrupt the sleep cycle even if you do not fully wake. The light turns off a “neural switch” in the brain, causing levels of a key sleep chemical to decline within minutes.

– To drop off we must cool off; body temperature and the brain’s sleep-wake cycle are closely linked. That’s why hot summer nights can cause a restless sleep. The blood flow mechanism that transfers core body heat to the skin works best between 18 and 30 degrees. But later in life, the comfort zone shrinks to between 23 and 25 degrees – one reason why older people have more sleep disorders.

– A night on the grog will help you get to sleep but it will be a light slumber and you won’t dream much.

– After five nights of partial sleep deprivation, three drinks will have the same effect on your body as six would when you’ve slept enough.

– Humans sleep on average around three hours less than other primates like chimps, rhesus monkeys, squirrel monkeys and baboons, all of whom sleep for 10 hours.

– Ducks at risk of attack by predators are able to balance the need for sleep and survival, keeping one half of the brain awake while the other slips into sleep mode.

– Ten per cent of snorers have sleep apnea, a disorder which causes sufferers to stop breathing up to 300 times a night and significantly increases the risk of suffering a heart attack or stroke.

– Snoring occurs only in non-REM sleep

– Teenagers need as much sleep as small children (about 10 hrs) while those over 65 need the least of all (about six hours). For the average adult aged 25-55, eight hours is considered optimal

– Some studies suggest women need up to an hour’s extra sleep a night compared to men, and not getting it may be one reason women are much more susceptible to depression than men.

– Feeling tired can feel normal after a short time. Those deliberately deprived of sleep for research initially noticed greatly the effects on their alertness, mood and physical performance, but the awareness dropped off after the first few days.

– Diaries from the pre-electric-light-globe Victorian era show adults slept nine to 10 hours a night with periods of rest changing with the seasons in line with sunrise and sunsets.

– Most of what we know about sleep we’ve learned in the past 25 years.

– As a group, 18 to 24 year-olds deprived of sleep suffer more from impaired performance than older adults.

– Experts say one of the most alluring sleep distractions is the 24-hour accessibility of the internet.

– The extra-hour of sleep received when clocks are put back at the start of daylight in Canada has been found to coincide with a fall in the number of road accidents.

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The Precious Unconscious

In the last article, we learned about brainwaves and brainwave states, as related to the hypnotherapy process. We talked about the conscious and subconscious mind in detail. But what about the unconscious mind, or the state of sleep?

Paying the Price of Keeping Up With the Jones’

In today’s society, we are go go go. Sleep is something that tends to fall by the wayside in order to get everything done that we want to do in a day. But what most people don’t know is just how vital sleep is for our health, performance, and ultimately our survival. In June, 60 Minutes did a show on sleep, its importance, the repercussions of not getting enough, and the brain’s responses to lack of sleep.

Just as Important as Food

During one study, lab rats were deprived of sleep for 5 days. What happened? They died. This means that sleep is just as important to our survival as food! However, people don’t want to believe that they need to sleep because it puts a damper on how much they can get done. So what do they do? They “compromise” by getting a couple of hours a sleep a day.

Why Shut the Body Down?

What most people don’t know are the proven decompensations when a body does not get 7.5-8 hours of sleep a night. That’s right, 7.5-8 hours! If you don’t get that amount, you are considered sleep-deprived. And the consequences of sleep-deprivation take effect immediately–after only one night! These consequences include slowed reaction time, impaired judgment, poor concentration and decision-making, and difficulties learning and remembering. Now, because we are exposed to external “compensations,” such as daylight and caffeine, we do have the ability to delay some of those negative consequences for a day or two. But certainly not indefinitely.

I’m Fine!

“So what?” you’re thinking. “I may be considered sleep-deprived, but I am functioning just fine!” Well, believe it or not, you’re not. Scientists have found that this type of response is quite common among sleep-deprived individuals; they have no sense of their limitations; they believe they are used to and have adapted to lack of sleep. This simply is not true, and the fallout of limited sleep is dramatic.

Hmmm…Fat, Sick and Unstable

Studies show that when a person gets less than 7.5-8 hours a night, they not only could wind up fat and sick, but also mentally ill. With lack of adequate sleep, what occurs is a hyperactive brain response: The amygdala, the emotional brain center, reacts more strongly than it would otherwise, and it seems there is a disconnect between the amygdala and the frontal lobe of the brain. The combination of these two brain dysfunctions results in mood swings, and major disturbances in rational thought and decision-making. In other words, the brain of a sleep-deprived individual looks remarkably similar to that of a person suffering from a psychiatric disorder.

Don’t Forget Sex

If that didn’t get your attention, maybe this one will: sleep-deprivation may very well dramatically affect sexual drive. In a study done on fruit flies (hard to really make a connection between flies and humans, but bear with me), it was proven that when a well-rested male fruit fly is put in a Petri-dish with a female, he almost immediately begins to orient towards her and then perform a mating ritual which leads to copulation. This happens time and time again. But, when they deprived the male fruit fly of sleep, and then put him together in a container with a female, he does not orient towards her and appears disinterested in her and/or mating! Decide for yourself if you want to draw a correlation or not, but seems pretty plausible to me!

Quality of Sleep is Important Too

Finally, scientists studied quality of sleep as well. They deprived subjects of reaching deep sleep by monitoring their brain waves and arousing them just slightly with sounds just as they were entering into a Delta brainwave state. By keeping them at Theta and above, the scientists discovered that the subjects began to eat more and enter into a pre-diabetic state. Leptin, a hormone in the brain responsible for signaling fullness, seems to go off-line. As a result, subjects began to eat enormous amounts of food and gained weight. With regard to the pre-diabetic state, scientists found that by eliminating Delta waves, subjects were then unable to properly metabolize sugar. Basically, by not getting quality sleep, we are subject to health problems commonly related to old age.

It’s Nap Time!

What if you just can’t, for whatever reason, get 7.5-8 hours a sleep a night? Here’s the good news: You can take naps and make up the missed time!!! Isn’t that great? So, if you only are able to get 6 hours a night, all you have to do is take a 1.5-2 hour nap and you’re good to go!

Summing It Up

In this article, we talked about the importance of sleep as a component of health. When a person is sleep-deprived, many everyday functions become severely impaired. Some of the subjective ramifications can be excess weight, illness, and unstable mood. A person needs to get 7.5-8 hours a sleep a night to optimally function. If unable to get that amount, naps can save the day and catch us up.

The Bottom Line

The implication that this has for hypnotherapy is that many of the symptoms that clients come in with may be alleviated, or at the very least aided, by a good night’s sleep or a decent night’s sleep accompanied by an afternoon nap. What this all means is that it may be time to rethink what is essential for good health–not just diet and exercise, but diet, exercise, and SLEEP.

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Commonly Asked Question

One of the most common questions I get regarding hypnotherapy is: Will I remember my session? The answer is a resounding “yes,” but the question, itself, speaks to the seeming mystery and possible misunderstanding that accompanies the process of hypnotherapy.

In this article, I would like to dispel some of the unknowns around the hypnotherapy process by looking at and explaining the naturally occurring science of brainwaves. In doing so, my hope is that there will be more understanding of what actually is occurring and allay any fears of being unconscious or out of control during a session.

So let’s first define what hypnosis and hypnotherapy are. Hypnosis is a relaxed state of mind where the conscious takes a back seat to the subconscious. This state is often called a trance. Hypnotherapy is the process of doing therapy while in this relaxed state or trance.

Did I lose you? Usually just with the word “trance” a fog begins to roll in for people. So let’s demystify things by talking about the brainwaves that create different states, like trances.

What are brainwaves?

Brainwaves are measured in two ways; first, by how fast, or the frequency, of electrical activity is in a one second interval; and second, by how strong that electrical activity is. The frequency is measured in Hertz (Hz) and ranges from 0 to 32Hz, and the strength is measured in Millivolts (MV).

There are different internal experiences associated with each range of brainwave frequencies, and each range is produced by different areas of the brain. These frequencies are broken down into four groups of brainwaves:Beta, Alpha, Theta and Delta. There are both positive and negative associations with each group of brainwaves, depending on their overall pattern and their abundance or lack.

The following is an explanation of the different brainwave states:

1. BETA (13-32 Hz) (Conscious Mind)

(+) High performance and quick thinking, especially helpful in conjunction with other brainwaves to bring what is deep inside out into the world in the creative process

(-) High anxiety and panic, list making, judging, critiquing, internal dialog and rumination

(Predominant in frontal lobes and generated by Brainstem and Cortex)

(a) Hi BETA (20-32 Hz)

(+) Associated with peak performance and cognitive processing.

(-) Associated with worry, anxiety, ruminating and OCD,

*Correlated with alcoholism*

(b) Low BETA (13 to 21 Hz)

(+) Associated with focus, analytic, relaxed thinking.

(-) Can be associated with depression in asymmetry, ADHD, OCD, sleep disorders, learning disorders and anxiety

2. ALPHA 8-13 Hz (Bridge between Conscious and Subconscious Mind)

(+) Associated with meditation, inner calm, relaxed state, receptive mind

(-) Spacing out, daydreaming, fogginess, depression, OCD, ADHD, anxiety when high in the frontal lobes.

(Predominate in occipital lobes and generated by the Thalamus and Cortex)

(a) Higher ALPHA

More alert and can be associated with more emotion

(b) Lower ALPHA

More drowsy

3. THETA (4-8 Hz) (The Subconscious)

(+) Associated with creativity and spontaneity, accesses to the subconscious, body memory, ancestral or genetic memory

(-) Distractibility, inattention, daydreaming, depression and anxiety

(Predominate in frontal midline and generated by the Limbic System)

4. DELTA (0-4 Hz) (The Unconscious)

(+) Associated with sleep and infancy, the unconscious

(-) Diffused DELTA associated with ADHD or learning disorders, hyper- vigilance

(Predominate in frontal lobes and generated by Hypothalamus)

Let’s Apply It All to A Session

Now that you know about brainwaves, let’s discuss from that vein what occurs in a hypnotherapy session.

With Intent Comes Beta Waves

Most sessions begin with an interview, or a discussion of what the client would like to work on in her/his session. The client often talks about fears, phobias, anxieties, and other feelings. S/he may rationalize or express judgment and try to understand or make sense of it all. All of these actions are part of the conscious mind, and if we hooked up an EEG machine to the client during this interview, we would see that the client would be producing mostly Beta waves.

Why is it “mostly” Beta waves? This is because, often times when a person begins to talk about an experience, s/he begins to feel certain emotions associated with that experience. Once this occurs, the Beta brainwave pattern observed would include flares of Alpha and possibly Theta.

Relaxing Consciousness: From Beta to Alpha

So, now the client is clear of what her/his intention is for the session, and the induction, or relaxation part of the session, begins. Here, the therapist helps the client to reduce Beta waves by quieting internal dialog and melting away stress by bringing awareness to tense areas in the body.

Then the client experiences more Alpha through tuning in to her/his internal sensory awareness, such as going to a place in nature and becoming aware of sights, sounds, smells, textures and tastes. This is where the client is dancing between the conscious mind and the subconscious mind.

And Then Into Theta

Lastly, the client develops Theta by first accessing feelings and body sensations associated with a current-day situation, and then accessing those associated with the past-day source. Since painful and traumatic feelings and sensations are often housed in the subconscious (and therefore are not accessible in regular, waking consciousness), a person needs to be in Theta, or working from her/his subconscious mind, in order to access, process and resolve them.

Once the client has completed her/his work in Theta, the therapist then helps the client anchor, or remember, what transpired in the session by bringing the client back into Alpha.

This is a very important part of the session, for if it is skipped, the deep, healing material that is accessed in the subconscious will simply remain in the subconscious and be treated as though it never happened.

Bringing the Session Into Conscious Awareness

After bringing the client out of hypnosis, it is then important that the client share her/his experience by way of putting it into words, journaling, making connections with thoughts and patterns in her/his life, or by any other resonant means. Any and all of these actions bring the deep, hidden process back up to the conscious, waking mind and into Beta.

What About Delta?

You will notice that the Delta waves are missing. Only if a client falls asleep during a session are Delta waves present. And, if this occurs, it is not a problem. The therapist has various ways of gently arousing the client to lift her/him back into Theta.

In Summary

In this article, the different brainwave-states were explained and applied to the hypnotherapy process. My hope in doing so is that it has allayed some fears, trepidation and/or mysticism surrounding the process of hypnotherapy, for it is truly an approach grounded in science and augmented with the creativity of the therapist and the inherent organicity of the client.

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