Nightmares tend to happen during rapid eye movement sleep (REM), towards the end of a night's sleep. In contrast, night terrors occur during the first third of the night during deeper sleep, also known as slow-wave sleep or non-REM sleep. The signs of a night terror episode can include: screaming and shouting.
Common signs include: Sudden wake ups that involve yelling and screaming3. The person who is having the night terror may thrash about and exhibit violent movements3. Night terrors cause the heart rate to increase and may involve sweating and hyperventilating3.
The inability to scream, as well as run or punch someone in your dream, appears because your brain areas that control motor neurons are switched off during sleep,” explains Julie Lambert, a certified sleep expert from Happy Sleepy Head. “Motor neurons are responsible for any muscle contractions.
Sleep terrors are episodes of screaming, intense fear and flailing while still asleep. Also known as night terrors, sleep terrors often are paired with sleepwalking. Like sleepwalking, sleep terrors are considered a parasomnia — an undesired occurrence during sleep.
Night terrors are episodes that can cause you to shout, flail or do other things in your sleep. Even though they're more common in children, adults get them, too. No one knows for sure what causes night terrors, but underlying stress, anxiety, or other mental health conditions could play a role.
Night terrors are like nightmares, except that nightmares usually occur during rapid eye movement (REM) sleep and are most common in the early morning. Night terrors usually happen in the first half of the night.
According to current diagnostic classifications, nightmares are defined as frightening or disturbing dreams that awaken the sleeper while bad dreams are defined as frightening or disturbing dreams that do not awaken the sleeper (Hasler & Germain, 2009; Nadorff et al., 2014).
While people talk about “night terrors,” this is not, in fact, a diagnosable condition, according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual fifth edition (DSM-V). It contains elements of conditions known as nightmare disorder, REM sleep behavior disorder, and Non-Rapid Eye Movement (NREM) Sleep Arousal Disorder.
Trying to wake them up can be dangerous but also futile. Many people in night terrors never wake up during the episode. What you can do is speak to them in a calm and soothing voice to offer comfort. If they get up but are not too agitated, gently guide them back to bed.
Night terrors are most common in children ages 3 through 7, and much less common after that. Night terrors may run in families. They can occur in adults, especially when there is emotional tension or alcohol use.
It can may make you feel scared, anxious, or upset. But nightmares are not real and can't harm you.
Impact of nightmares
Trauma-related nightmares generally occur during REM sleep, which is when we tend to have vivid dreams. When you wake up from these nightmares, you may experience fear, anxiety, panic, distress, frustration, or sadness. You can also wake up soaked in sweat and with your heart pounding.
Nightmares can arise for a number of reasons—stress, anxiety, irregular sleep, medications, mental health disorders—but perhaps the most studied cause is post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
Nightmares are vivid dreams that may be threatening, upsetting, bizarre, or otherwise bothersome. They occur more often during rapid eye movement (REM) sleep, the stage of sleep associated with intense dreaming. Nightmares arise more frequently in the second half of the night when more time is spent in REM sleep.
It's best not to try to wake kids during a night terror. This usually doesn't work, and kids who do wake are likely to be disoriented and confused, and may take longer to settle down and go back to sleep. There's no treatment for night terrors, but you can help prevent them.
Don't Wake Them Up
However, it's important not to wake them up and allow them to work through the episode. They're more likely to forget the dream if they can sleep through it. Waking them up in the middle of a nightmare can be jarring, making it difficult for them to forget the imagery or get back to sleep.
If you have been diagnosed with PTSD, or post-traumatic stress disorder, you are vulnerable to experiencing night terrors.
Nighttime panic attacks, also known as 'nocturnal panic attacks' or 'night terrors', happen while you're asleep and wake you up, often with the same symptoms as daytime panic attacks.
Kids with symptoms like these don't necessarily have (or develop) a mental illness or disorder, and many times those experiences means nothing, Thompson says. But symptoms like these, especially on the more severe end of the spectrum, may be forerunners of psychotic illness like schizophrenia.
Nightmares about falling were followed closely by dreams about being chased (more than 63 percent). Other distressing nightmares included death (roughly 55 percent), feeling lost (almost 54 percent), feeling trapped (52 percent), and being attacked (nearly 50 percent).
A sleep expert explains. By Nitun Verma, M.D. When it comes to comparing night terrors and nightmares, you might assume that they're both bad dreams of varying intensities. But night terrors (also known as sleep terrors) are more than just super-intense nightmares.