by spiritual_emergency » Thu Nov 13, 2008 3:01 pm

Nihilistic One:

Search for "Sectrets of Sleep - Sleep Deprivation" on youtube.

mistook one of the doctors for an undertaker, who'd come to bury him

after the sleep deprivation stunt, he was never quite the same again.

That was fascinating.In particular, I thought it rather revealing that the researchers observed at the point Peter began hallucinating, his hallucinations mimicked the cycle of the 90 minute REM sleep pattern.As the "experiment/fund-raiser" continued, we could see Peter's sense of self-identity begin to dissolve to the extent he no longer felt he was "Peter" anymore. This corresponds with my own explorations in which psychosis is the equivalent of. At one point, one of the researchers involved in the experiment noted that Peter, "," thus suggesting that Peter himself also believed he had died. This too is consistent with Carl Jung and John Weir Perry's work.My own experience of "acute" psychosis spanned a period of approximately six weeks. The most intense stage lasted about ten days. During that period I ate and slept minimally, or not at all. Psychologically, I was "living" in an entirely different state of consciousness -- a state I identified with a "purgatory" or "bardo-like" state wherein I wasn't sure if I was dead or alive.It's worth noting that following the experiment, Peter did not seem to recover his previous level of functioning. He was later indicted in a bribery scandal, his first marriage fell apart (according tohe was married four times) and he lost his job as a popular disc jockey. His first wife and closest friends observed, "I hope that Janus has since gotten some sleep and is otherwise, well. Thanks for sharing the link, Nihilistic One.