Some interesting facts about Night Terrors

A night terror is a sleeping disorder. It is a sudden waking up from a sleep while still subconsciously accompanied by screaming, paranoia, sleepwalking, or kicking. It is also an episode of flailing, mumbling while still asleep. It can be termed that if night terrors occur infrequently, it has nothing to do with any diseases.

Almost every child goes through this phase growing up and is a normal stage of their development. Usually, when night terror occurs, it will end, resulting in a deep sleep.

A night terror is common among children starting from the age of 3-12, where an estimate of 36.9% of the population suffers from it. But, it is not just children who have night terrors, even adults experience this. An estimated 2% of the adult population suffers from night terrors. However, the estimation may be more because most people are unaware that they have night terrors.

Inconsolability is the main feature of night terrors and is very much similar to a panic attack. The easiest way to notice if a person is suffering from a night terror is by their sleep. During their sleep, they will wake up, bolting upright with looks of fear and panic on their faces while their eyes remain wide open.

Their faces are usually filled with confusion, anxiety, and panic, with no idea of your presence in their room. When this phase occurs, they will scream, yell, kick, or sleepwalk in any direction, which can prove to be fatal.

Those people who have night terrors usually do not remember any accounts of the previous nights. However, they might recall some incidents as dreams and not as actual occurrences. The parasomnia in the two is the same. Lab test suggests that during night terror, electroencephalography (ECG) is very high in a subject with an increased heartbeat and an increase in muscle tone.

The causes of night terror in a person happen because of various health conditions.

It may be an anxiety disorder: Anxiety disorder is a mental health disorder in a person. Due to anxiety, a person's psychology is at unrest. This, in turn, forces the person to react because of all the thoughts building up in the mind.

Fear, confusion, and paranoia, which happen during night terror in a subject, are associated with an anxiety disorder.

Inconsolability is the main feature of night terrors and is very much similar to a panic attack. The easiest way to notice if a person is suffering from a night terror is by their sleep.

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder or PTSD: Post Traumatic Stress Disorder is also one of the leading causes of night terror. Post Traumatic Stress Disorder refers to a disorder where a person is unable to recover after experiencing/ witnessing terrifying or unwanted events.

This is very common among military personnel who have seen the cost of war. Substance abuse: Night terror is also common among those people who are under substance abuse. It can be because of excessive drinking of alcohol, use of pain medications, or illegal drugs.

Because of substance abuse, the mental health of a person is affected widely, causing it to act differently. They are bound to partially wake up from their sleep with fear psychosis or hallucination. Therefore, during a night terror, they will swing their arms kick or scream because they think somebody wants to harm them.

Bipolar disorder: In adults, night terror occurs if they are suffering or have a history of bipolar disorder. It was formerly known as maniac depression, which is a mental health disorder. Bipolar disorder occurs commonly between the ages of 15-25 years. Both males and females are equally affected.

Depression: Night terror also happens because of depression. In fact, studies have shown that depression is the leading cause of worldwide disability. It affects children, adolescents, and adults. This means that night terror can occur to anyone else, irrespective of the age.

Treating those with health-related conditions: Night terror in a person also occurs because of health conditions. It can either be sleep apnea or problems relating to mental health. Such situations can be treated with medications.

By improving sleeping conditions: In some cases, night terror occurs because of less sleep or sleep deprivation. If a person suffering from night terror finds it painful or uncomfortable to sleep, changing their sleeping habits or sleep environment can be conducive.

Use of medications: Even though drugs are rarely prescribed to treat those suffering from night terrors, medications like benzodiazepines and serotonin are used to treat night terror.

Treating those with physical and mental stress: For some people, night terror occurs because of physical and psychological stress. Such victims can be treated through therapy or counseling.