Image by brentbat via FlickrInformation proved by Wikipedia
A night terror, also known as a sleep terror or pavor nocturnus, is a parasomnia disorder characterized by extreme terror and a temporary inability to regain full consciousness. The subject wakes abruptly from slow-wave sleep, with waking usually accompanied by gasping, moaning, or screaming while waking. It is often impossible to awaken the person fully because they are so concentrated on waking, and after the episode the subject normally settles back to sleep without waking. A night terror can rarely be recalled by the subject. They typically occur during non-rapid eye movement sleep.
Signs and symptoms
Children
Children from age two to eight are most prone to night terrors, and they affect about fifteen percent of all children,[1] although people of any age may experience them. Episodes may recur for a couple of weeks then suddenly disappear. The symptoms also tend to be different, like the child being able to recall the experience, and while nearly arisen, hallucinate. Children who have night terrors are usually described as 'bolting upright' with their eyes wide open, with a look of fear and panic, and will often scream. They will usually sweat, breathe fast and have a rapid heart rate (autonomic signs). And although it will seem like they are awake, during a night terror, children will appear confused, will not be consolable and won't recognize you. Strong evidence has shown that a predisposition to night terrors and other parasomniac disorders can be passed genetically. Though there are a multitude of triggers, emotional stress during the previous day and a high fever are thought to precipitate most episodes. Ensuring the right amount of sleep is an important factor. Special consideration must be used when the subject suffers from narcolepsy, as there may be a link.
Adults
Though the symptoms of night terrors in adolescents and adults are similar, the etiology, prognosis and treatment are qualitatively different. These night terrors can occur each night if the sufferer does not eat a proper diet, get the appropriate amount of sleep, is enduring stressful events in their life or if they remain untreated. Adult night terrors are much less common, often trauma-based rather than genetic, chronic, and often respond to treatment in the form of psychotherapy and antidepressant medication. There is some evidence of a link between adult night terrors and hypoglycemia.
In addition to night terrors, some adult night terror sufferers have many of the characteristics of depressed individuals including inhibition of aggression,self-directed anger, passivity, anxiety, impaired memory, and the ability to ignore pain.
How I learned about night terrors, first hand experience
When my son was younger he suffered from night terror, and it was a very difficult time for all of us as a family since we did not know anything about night terrors. But with a lot of patience and looking for information on this condition i was able to understand night terrors and how to help my son the best i could. (Plus not losing my cool as a parent and not showing how I also was upset this was making me as I felt I couldn't help my son.)
I remember crying so much and feeling as though this was my fault that he was getting sick because of me (We were going through a divorce) at the time he developed this condition we were going thorough a divorce and this affected him more then I thought. I learned or should I say we all learned more about this condition and we were able to deal with night terror as a family.I did not speak of night terrors to my son until i got all the information i needed to help him and when he was much older.
I am happy to say that he no longer has this condition
Please follow this link bellow to get more detail information:
http://www.everydayhealth.com/info/v1/night-terrors-in-children?xid=g_dlp&z=mentalhealth/sleepdisorders/dlp&s_kwcid=TC|16931|night%20terrors%20in%20children||S|b|4380556064&gclid=CMSr4fPKwaQCFVOW7QodkDaQEA
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