Facts
Consciousness is defined as a state whereby an individual is self-aware. According to William James, consciousness indicates a “stream” with the power to coordinate ordinary daily occurrences. While studying this sense of perception, cognitive psychology indicates a scientific mechanism used to study various conscious and unconscious states coupled with Optonogenetics; a form of technology which makes it possible to switch various states of consciousness. Other essential forms of consciousness relate to selective attention, inattentional blindness. Further still, suprachiasmatic nucleus of the hypothalamus in the brain is responsible for the inducement of consciousness based on the 24 hour cycle. Besides this, there exist various levels of consciousness, for instance: Wakefulness, sleepiness, and drug-induced states. In this particular context, the most relevant example that will be used to shed light on conscious states is that of Matt Utesch. A clear elaboration of the subject matter will be provided in the next section.
Analysis
It is apparent that consciousness is not only lost whenever an individual is in a state of sleep but also when they are under the influence of other external elements. For instance, before a surgery is performed on a patient, an Anesthesiologist is responsible for administering a dose of drugs in order to place the individual in a temporary state of unconsciousness. In addition to this, lethal doses of alcohol consumption beyond 30 percent also have a similar effect on individuals. Drugs are also known to lead people to a state of unconsciousness whenever they are consumed in high dosage besides placing the users in a state of euphoria. Conversely, caffeine such as coffee and tobacco, on the other hand, act as elements that lead individuals to maintain a long duration of consciousness. There are detrimental health effects on consumption of the aforementioned elements. Some disorders are, nevertheless, imminent in a number of individuals such as Matt Utesch who fell asleep while driving leading him to cause an accident. This individual was suffering from narcolepsy a condition whereby a person is under the influences of daytime sleepiness. Other states of the mind such as selective attention involve a situation whereby the individual is capable of focusing their awareness on a small segment of information being exhibited by sensory mechanisms. Inattentional blindness on the other hand, encompasses a condition whereby a person is incapable of noticing some particular visual stimulus whenever tasks that demand specific attention are being performed.
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Impact
On one hand, consciousness is bound to impact on individuals in many ways. On one hand, whenever anesthetics are administered to patients, it becomes possible for an operation to be performed successfully; implying that this is a positive effect. Conversely, however, negative effects are also observable. For instance, constant use of drugs that inhibit the conscious state of the mind is likely to result to psychological dependence; a state whereby it can become difficult for the users` bodies to function normally without use of such drugs.
Restatement
It is evident as illustrated above that Consciousness is attained whenever a person becomes self-aware. This state can, however, be lost whenever someone is under the influence of elements such as alcohol or in a situation whereby anesthetic drugs are induced into their systems. Lethal doses of drugs are, nonetheless detrimental to peoples` health. Disorders associated with the conscious state include narcolepsy a situation whereby the brain is induced into a state of unconsciousness during the day. With proper treatment and adherence to health doctrines, it can be concluded that consciousness can be well managed in individuals at any point in time.
