Night Terror Research Paper

Alannah Francis

Imagine your having a nightmare. Someone or something is chasing you with a chainsaw. You run through wet grass and you can feel cold mud squish between your toes. Suddenly, you trip on a rock and a sharp pain erupts in your ankle. Its getting closer. You try to get up but the pain is too much. There right in front of you holding chainsaw. This is usually the part where you wake up, right? Wrong. The chainsaw rips through your skin and blood spatters everywhere. You thrash around and hit your head on another rock and everything goes black.

The bright sun wakes you up and you notice that you have a splitting headache. You take a look around and notice that your on the floor of your bedroom surrounded by shards of a broken lamp that has been knocked off the dresser. You have no recollection of what had happened the night before, you can't even remember your dream, and you never will.
This is an example of a night terror.
Night terrors are horrific nightmares that may cause you to act them out in real life. Some motions can even simulate a panic attack or a seizure. They have a tendency to move and talk as if they were conscious. This type of behavior will continue until something drastic, such as walking into a door or falling out of bed, will wake them up. Most of the time when someone experiences a night terror, they think that it is just another nightmare.
There are a couple differences between Nightmares and night errors that make it easy to decipher between them.
When having a nightmare, one can easily be awoken but when experiencing a night terror, this is like the 12 Labors of Hercules, impossible. Another difference is that when you have a nightmare, you can remember every petrifying detail with a vivid memory. When you have a night terror, most of the time you cannot remember any of the
dream.

Some symptoms of night terrors include wide eyes with dilated pupils, rapid breathing, racing heart, elevated blood pressure, sweating, and fatigue. One of the most notable effects of night terrors is its affects on relationships. Because of the extreme movement that can occur, panic may arise in loved ones causing severe stress on that relationship.

Scientists aren't quite sure why night terrors happen. Some ideas are that Stressful life events.
Fever, Sleep deprivation, Medications that affect the central nervous system, or Recent anesthesia given for surgery can cause night terrors. One thing is for sure, being over exhausted can worsen the symptoms.

According to Mayoclinic.org, there are three main ways to treat night terrors if there are no underlying issues. Addressing stress: If stress or anxiety seems to be contributing to the sleep terrors, your doctor may suggest meeting with a therapist or counselor. Cognitive behavioral therapy, hypnosis, biofeedback or relaxation therapy may help. Anticipatory awakening: This involves waking the person who has sleep terrors about 15 minutes before he or she usually experiences the event. Then the person stays awake for a few minutes before falling asleep again. Medication: Medication is rarely used to treat night terrors, particularly for children. If necessary, however, use of benzodiazepines or certain antidepressants may be effective.