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CHANNEL FOUR'S SLEEP DEPRIVATION Reality show
" Shattered" was a TV reality show made by channel 4 in the United
Kingdom. It explored many issues surrounding sleep deprivation in the context
of a TV show with a big cash prize. The winner was the person who was best
suited to withstanding tough Sleep deprivation tasks.
The cash prize was 100,000 pounds. The contestants had to work together to
maintain the fund. Every time a contestant closed their eyes for ten seconds
or more a thousand pounds was deducted from the prize fund. So the contestant's
worked as a team to maintain the prize fund.
One really surprising thing was that virtually no money was deducted from
the prize fund. The contestants were extremely determined and disciplined.
Personally I expected about 10,000 pounds or less to be left in the fund.
But at one stage the prize fund even started to grow as the presenter of the
TV show lost challenges against the contestants.
Special tasks were devised to challenge the contestants. For instance one
contestant had to hold a every large Teddy bear whilst been read a pleasant
bedtime story. Another contestant had to listen to an extremely boring
lecture on their own.
One of the main features of the show was the attention to health and safety
issues. Sleep deprivation is extremely dangerous and can even cause long
term damage. The studio was built especially with health and safety in
mind. Tables were built without hard edges. If contestant to fell over they
would not be hurt by the specially designed furniture.
Still this did not stop people criticizing the show. Such was the concern
over health and safety that contestants were allowed to sleep if one of
them was suffering extreme health problems associated with sleep deprivation.
One contestant for instance started hallucinating openly. So the doctors examined
him and then allowed all the contestants to sleep for a few hours. This happened
twice during the week long show.
What happens with sleep deprivation is that dreams start to burst into our
waking life. That is why this contestant hallucinated. It can get to such
a stage that the hallucinations cannot be distinguished from reality.
This was considered too dangerous by the doctors.
The winner was a trainee policewoman. The final task was to lie awake for
as long as possible whilst in bed. The woman cheated somewhat by drinking
vast amounts of water. So physically she was kept awake by needing to go to
the toilet.
Many contestants overcame the sleep deprivation with exercise. This seemed
to take their mind off their tiredness. Indeed the stronger younger and
fittest Contestants performed better. There was a distinct rhythm to
the contestant's performance. They seemed to hit a wall - and for hours
they would struggle. Then they would start to wake up again and their concentration
levels would improve vastly. The contestant's helped each other to get through
these periods.
ARTICLES ON DREAMS
Big
Brother dream studies - Dreams pick up snapshots of reality and Big Brother
captures snapshots of our emotions. It is an ideal study situation for dreams.
Hallucinations
in dreams - an exploration of hallucinations in dreams
Theta
waves - Why do we sleep. The importance of theta waves in dreams.
OBE's
- Out of body experiences.
Lucid
dreams - dreams where we know we are dreaming.
Disturbing
dreams Nightmares
Individuation
Working with a dreamer to understand their dream
Lucid
dreams What are lucid dreams?
The
natural drugs of the brain Melatonin, Seratonin and dreams
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DREAMS ABOUT FIGHTING AND CONFLICT:
FIGHT
: Aggression and assaults in dream analysis
GUN
: Dream symbolism and guns in modern dream analysis
GUY(unknown male) : Modern dream interpretation and the strange or unknown
man
INTRUDERS
: Intruders as symbols in dreams
KNIFE
: Dream analysis and the symbolic meaning of Knives
MURDERS
: Dream symbolism and killing
POISONS
: The dream meaning of poison in modern dream interpretation
POLICE : Police and their dream symbolism in dream interpretation
DEATH
: Dream analysis and deaths
FATHERS
: Dads as dream symbols