Night terrors are mostly seen in the children of age between three to five years but recent researches has shown that even six months child can also experience night terrors and some adults also goes through this experience at least once in a week. Night terrors can occur in preadolescent boys and sometimes girls can also go through this. Night terrors generally happen between stage 3 and stage 4 of the sleep because at this time person is in deep sleep or we can say that when we move through one level of sleep to another. While dreams occur during the REM (rapid eye movement) sleep when the rate of breathing is fast and eyes are moving quickly during sleep. An expert of Parent Centre Sleep, Jodi A gives the simple difference between the two i.e. “if your child is more agitated, he had a nightmare. If you’re the one who’s disturbed, he probably has a night terror.
Night terrors are caused because of the central nervous system (C.N.S) gets over aroused in the sleep. CNS is not properly matured that controls the walking and sleep of our body. Cause of night terror can be genetic that means the child has inherited this disorder from his family member. Night terrors almost vanish when the central nervous system matures. A child can experience a single night terror or many night terrors before his CNS gets mature.
If you awake a person or simply touch him during the 4th stage of sleep it is possible that he can experience night terror. Other cause of night terror is stress, tension, over eating before going to bed, over tiredness or if a person is having medicines for some illness. Researches show that a chemical triggers in brain causes brain to “misfire†and hence night terror occurs. Misfire can be because of stress, emotional disturbance. A person who has gone through night terror will wake up breathing quickly and his eyes wide open with terror in them. Screaming is more often than crying or moaning. The whole situation of screaming or crying can happen from 5 to 20 minutes.
People who remember something about the night terror says that they had seen animals or dark shadows coming towards them to hit them. Others see snakes, spiders. Only some people see the animals they are afraid of while others not at all remember the event that they had seen in their sleep.
The best way to control the person having night terror is to be with that person and reassure him that everything is fine nothing has gone wrong. And also move the things which can harm them.
Night terrors are not at all harmful for the children and they vanish when child grows. It can happen in children because of medications, not getting proper sleep, having caffeine. It can also happen to children who are healthy and much loved and cared by the parents. It almost vanishes in the adults but some retain this who are extraordinary creative and imaginative.
i had them
I still get them and i am 19
I’m 13 and i still have night terrors, i usually get enough sleep and they don’t only happen during a stress full school year but during summer to when i’m relaxed. i don’t take meds or anything like that 🙁 not only all this but they occur every night.
I don’t think anyone should get them.
Both my daughters and I suffer from night terrors. It can be quite scary not only for the child having it but for a parent witnessing their child’s distress. I found introducing a favorite toy or pet in my youngest child’s case her cockatiel with the light on would be enough of a positive but gentle intrusion to the night terror to break her out of it. I would ask her to look at the bird ” Isnt he funny?” i would say, also being repetitive in a light tone. With this technique I managed to shorten their night terrors. I hope this helps someone-good luck!
I had one last night, I’m 15.
It was a Silent Hill theme, and the part I remember most was walking into a room that was long and thin, with two exits. I walked in with my family and the door closed behind us. Both exits were metal doors, bolted and rusted shut. I turned around and something that looked like a mix of The Rake and the vampire from Let Me In dropped from the roof. I referred to it as “The Grudge”, although I have never seen this movie. It bolted towards my family, and I pulled out a pair of scissors and sliced the top half of its leg with the tip. It then turned towards me and towered over me, its eyes looking as if it had white contact lenses, blood filled mouth, and long unkept claws. As it leapt on top of me I pointed the tip of the scissors towards its heart, and yet it pressed towards me, still trying to kill me. I was holding the scissors in place and it kept moving closer, its chest sliding further onto the scissors. I couldn’t stand the feeling of the scissors furthering into this thing, so I pulled them out quickly and the blood dripped from both the creature and the scissors. It wasn’t dead. I took one last glance at it and it tore apart my neck with its teeth, looking like a scene from Dead Space 2. Then I woke up… I haven’t been able to think straight. It keeps replaying in my mind. Over and over.
do you believe there are boogie man out to get you. well, believe it or not they are. theyre called demons. they use evil scientists with their crazy radio frequencies to torment us in our sleep. so that way we are are terrorized and so tramatized that we are no longer normal. they also get strength from fear. we have to fight back and not be afraid of these bullies. GOD is stronger than they. So we definitely need Him on our side .its not normal to have night terrors, its a weapon fro the devils we cant see.
I am nearly 30 an still have them since I was 3 years old! Will they ever stop?? X
i still have them and i am 14
i am 10 and i had night terror’s every night and once i was naked but i don’t know why