Night terror
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- Night Terrors is also the name of a Star Trek: The Next Generation episode.
A night terror, also known as sleep terror or pavor nocturnus, is a parasomnia sleep disorder characterized by extreme terror and a temporary inability to regain full consciousness. The subject wakes abruptly from the fourth stage of sleep, with waking usually accompanied by gasping, moaning, or screaming. It is often impossible to fully awaken the person, and after the episode the subject normally settles back to sleep without waking. A night terror can occasionally be recalled by the subject.
Night terrors are distinct from nightmares in several key ways. First, the person is not fully awake when roused, and even when efforts are made to awaken the sleeper, they may continue to experience the night terror for over 10 or 20 minutes. Unlike nightmares, night terrors occur during the deepest levels of non-REM sleep. Even if awakened the subject can often not remember the episode except for a sense of panic, while nightmares are easily recalled. Unlike nightmares, which are frequently a scary event dreamt (e.g. a monster under the bed, falling to one's death, etc.), night terrors are not dreams in the same way. There is no situation or event, scary or otherwise, that is dreamt but rather the emotion of fear itself is felt, often coupled with tension, apprehension and so on. These emotions without a focusing event or scenario that make up the dream itself compound and add to each other increasing the emotions in a cumulative effect. The lack of a dream itself leaves those woken from a night terror in a state of disorientation much more severe than a normal nightmare. This can include a short period of amnesia during which the subject may be unable to recall their name, location, age, or any other identifying features of themself. This state generally passes after only one or two minutes.
Children from age four to six are most prone to night terrors, and they affect about three percent of all youngsters (although people of any age may experience them). Episodes may recur for a couple of weeks then suddenly disappear. They usually occur during the first couple of hours of sleep. Strong evidence has shown that a predisposition to night terrors and other parasomniac disorders can be passed genetically. Though there are a multitude of triggers, emotional stress during the previous day and a high fever is thought to precipitate most episodes. Ensuring that the right amount of sleep is gained also seems to be important.
While each night terror is usually different, all episodes of the same person will generally have similar traits. One seemingly universal quality of night terrors is a strong sense of danger — there is always a being, tangible or otherwise, who wishes to hurt the sleeping person. Many sufferers of night terrors are reluctant to speak of them because of their violent, graphic, and often disturbing nature.
The consensus for treating night terror episodes is three-pronged: gentleness, disposal of anything nearby that might hurt the subject, and avoiding loud voices or movements that might frighten the subject further. It is also critical to remember that the person experiencing the terror is unaware that they are dreaming. As a result, they may become even more agitated if they are told that "it was just a dream," as they are quite convinced that what they are experiencing is real. The quickest remedy is simply to calm the person and convince them to "go back to sleep" (although they are, in fact, already asleep). Night terrors are so transitory that medical help is often unnecessary, but options may range from treatment of sleep apnea to prescription of benzodiazepines and psychotherapy.
The most famous avowed sufferer of night terrors is probably H. R. Giger.