The Experience and Treatment of Adult Night Terrors

Nightmares are what scary movies are made of. Unfortunately, if you suffer from them it can at times be debilitating. Adult night terrors can vary from person to person. Some individuals will scream, others cry or some even jump from the bed still fully asleep in the grips of an adult night terror.

Night terrors are more common in children than adults. However, there are some adults that suffer from this disorder. Nearly three percent of adults suffer from this ailment compared with 15 percent of children and adolescents.

Many experts in the area of sleep believe that sleep walking and night terrors are two of the same exhibitions or demonstrations of the same disorder. With this disorder, sleep walking is on the scale as the mildest form of the disorder while night terrors are on the opposite end of the spectrum.

What is the difference between nightmares and night terrors?

Night terrors happen when you are in slow wave sleep and typically occur within a few hours of falling asleep and can last anywhere from five to twenty minutes. Dreaming only appears in REM sleep. During dreaming physically you cannot move.

People that see someone in the grip of a night terror will describe them as appearing awake, but not quite. They may talk and even have their eyes open in some episodes. Although the person appears awake they are actually asleep and unconscious of what they are doing. Even if they are talking they don’t usually communicate with you nor have a regular conversation.

Because your body is paralyzed during dreaming you cannot unlock and open the front door of your house and fight off any attackers, but you can in the course of a night terror. If you are physically moving while having your terrifying dream, crying, fighting or even yelling you are having a night terror not a nightmare.

Why do night terrors occur?

Professionals believe that many people experience night terrors because of a disruption in the central nervous system generally triggered by stress, sleep deprivation, alcohol or drug abuse, some prescription medications can have side effects of night terrors, post-traumatic stress disorders or even a head injury.

Night terrors are a response to the emotion of fear. Anxiety is one of the highest forms of fear. Rapid heartbeats or palpitations, fast breathing, sweating, crying or even screaming usually transpire during night terrors in response to your mind’s perceived fear.

Treatment for night terrors

Children will usually outgrow the disorder. As they grow older the symptoms fade and eventually vanish.However, this doesn’t generally happen for adults experiencing night terrors.

Treatment for night terrors in adults includes the same approach used for sleepwalking adults. These include prescription medications, hypnotherapy, psychotherapy and stress management techniques. Some patients benefit from things as simple as regular massages, regularly scheduled sleep schedules and physical exercise to reduce stress.

Medical professionals will customarily diagnose your condition first. Sleep observation or sleep studies can be performed along with information you share with your physician describing what you are experiencing during these episodes. After confirming your diagnosis a plan of treatment will be determined for you to help eliminate your symptoms.

Personally someone asleep cannot prevent a night terror from happening. Treatment must occur before the night terror strikes. Different treatments will work for various patients and some may need a combination of treatments. Therefore, it’s necessary to seek professional advice and treatment from a medical physician for this condition.

The ultimate goal is to help patients achieve a relaxed or calm state of sleep. If you happen to be with someone that is experiencing a night terrors you can turn on the lights and talk calmly to the person until they wake up

Night terrors are frightening for the person experiencing them. Night terror episodes can negatively affect your life or the lives of your loved ones if not handled properly. If you are experiencing night terrors, seek professional medical advice.