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The altered state of consciousness takes forms in several ways; meditation, sleep/ dreams, hypnosis, being fully awake, and altered mental status through substances. First there is meditation, in a state of meditation you bring yourself to a state of thinking where you “bring yourself away from your body’. In this state it is usually in relation to thinking about the universe or your place in the world.
In meditation you take your mind away from your body in a philosophical sense. Next is sleep and your dreams, while you sleep you can slip into an altered state of consciousness where our perception is not affected by any real stimuli but by your mind only. This occurs during the ERM (rapid eye movement) stage of sleep. Hypnosis is where you are suggestible by an outside force. Hypnosis is often used in therapy to recall things that cannot be easily remembered or events from stressful times.
It has also been proven that hypnosis in not very accurate because the person being hypnotized can be “lead” by the therapist. Another altered state of consciousness is being fully awake, this is when you are aware of all of your decisions and your level of thinking, e spend a great amount of our lines In a fully awake state of consciousness. There is also the state of consciousness where you are altered by a chemical factor, often drugs and alcohol.
Many people are diagnosed with depression or some other from of “mental problem” In these cases there are prescription drugs that can change the mental status in a positive way. There Is also the altered mental status from illicit drugs and alcohol, these effects can become desired when the body becomes dependent on these chemicals. Often when the body becomes dependent on these substances there will be physical changes and dependency.