This work breaks new ground by assembling in one volume diverse information about nine frequently experienced, altered states of awareness. Many of these states, such as those involving near-death and out-of-body experiences, have gained increased attention in recent years. Other states are more commonplace, such as sleepwalking, amnesia, anesthesia, or deja vu. All altered states may be disruptive to society, as they tend to interfere with the social roles of individuals. If the shared assumptions upon which society operates are too frequently flaunted as a result of such states, chaos can ensue and family life and work can be impaired or even destroyed. Treatment of altered states of perception involves individuals from a variety of the helping professions, including anesthetists, endocrinologists, neurologists, psychiatrists and psychologists.
This English-language bibliography consists of over 1,000 references published from 1894 through the first quarter of 1988. The source publications include books, articles, conference proceedings, and dissertations and were mostly published in the United States, Great Britain, and Canada. Chapters on each of the nine altered states contain relevant entries arranged alphabetically by author. Also included are author, subject, and personal name indexes. This bibliography will interest many health care, counseling, and legal professionals. It will serve as a useful reference for a wide variety of courses, including death and dying; the sociology and psychology of religion; and topics in aerospace medicine, such as maintaining the health of astronauts, who are frequently subject to altered states of awareness caused by sensory deprivation and weightlessness.