Table of ContentsView AllTable of ContentsNight Terrors in ChildrenAdultsSymptomsSleep RoutineMental HealthWhen a Child Has a Night Terror
Table of ContentsView All
View All
Table of Contents
Night Terrors in Children
Adults
Symptoms
Sleep Routine
Mental Health
When a Child Has a Night Terror
Night terrors, also called sleep terrors, are a type of sleep disorder. During a sleep terror, you might scream or cry while asleep, or it may seem like you’re acting out a bad dream. These episodes can affect children or adults, but they’re more common during early childhood.
Generally, sleep terrors are not considered to be harmful to your physical or psychological health,but sometimes they can be a sign of underlying anxiety. If you think that you or your child has sleep terrors, you should rest assured that they can be well managed with lifestyle changes and medical care.
In this article, learn about the causes of sleep terrors and how to deal with them in adults and children.
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Sleep terrors are not common, but they are not rare either. They are more common among young children under age 5 than any other age group.One research article published in 2022 estimated the frequency of sleep terrors during early childhood to be between 16.7% and 20.5%.
There is a genetic predisposition to night terrors, but not everyone with this sleep disorder has a family member who also has had them.
Causes of sleep terrors during childhood include:
Night terrors typically occur during transitions between thephases that cycle throughout sleep.Children are more prone to waking up between sleep phases than adults are. Sleep normally becomes more regulated as the brain matures, and night terrors are rare during adulthood.
Sleep Phases ofr Night TerrorsNight terrors occur during non-rapid eye movement (non-REM) sleep, during stage 3 (slow-wave) sleep.Dreams are normally part ofrapid eye-movement (REM) sleep. During the REM dream phase of sleep, people are unable to move, cry, scream, or speak. Unlike nightmares, night terrors happen when a person isnotdreaming, which is why physical movements, screaming, and crying can occur during sleep terror episodes.
Sleep Phases ofr Night Terrors
Night terrors occur during non-rapid eye movement (non-REM) sleep, during stage 3 (slow-wave) sleep.Dreams are normally part ofrapid eye-movement (REM) sleep. During the REM dream phase of sleep, people are unable to move, cry, scream, or speak. Unlike nightmares, night terrors happen when a person isnotdreaming, which is why physical movements, screaming, and crying can occur during sleep terror episodes.
Some Adults Experience Night Terrors Too
While the most common age for night terrors is early childhood, these episodes can continue or begin during adolescence or adulthood.
Having night terrors at any age does not indicate a psychiatric condition, and there is no reason to be embarrassed or concerned if you or your child is having them. However, if you experience night terrors at any age, it is important to get a medical evaluation. These episodes can sometimes be related to underlying health conditions.
Risk factors for adult-onset night terrors include:
If you have been experiencing sleep terrors, it would be beneficial to learn whether you have an underlying medical condition so that you can get appropriate treatment. Treatment will help the underlying condition and lower the risk of recurrent sleep terrors.
An anxiety disorder can cause anxiety symptoms, but that’s not always the case. Many people can experience periods of anxiety due to stress without having an anxiety disorder.
People Unaware of Night Terror EpisodesOne of the key characteristics of sleep terrors is that people are not aware that they are having them and are unable to recall the episodes.
People Unaware of Night Terror Episodes
One of the key characteristics of sleep terrors is that people are not aware that they are having them and are unable to recall the episodes.
Symptoms: Night Terrors, Nightmares, or Nightmare Disorder?
Night terrors occur during sleep, and people who are experiencing these episodes are unaware that the episodes are occurring. When a person has night terrors, they may cry, scream, or punch while they appear to be sleeping.
Symptoms and characteristics of night terrors include:
After having a night terror, sometimes people can recall having experienced some anxiety during the night or might describe a sense of doom.
Other Parasomnias
Night terrors are a type ofparasomnia. A parasomnia is an unpleasant sleep experience, such as anightmare. However, night terrors are not the same as nightmares or other parasomnias.
How other parasomnias compare to night terrors include:
Sleep Routines to Stop Night Terrors
Some recommendations for preventing recurrent sleep terrors include lifestyle adjustments.
Measures you can take to avoid sleep terrors include:
Additionally, consider going over the following with your healthcare provider:
For a child with ongoing night terrors that occur at a regular time each night, a healthcare provider may recommend scheduled awakenings.In this process, the usual time of the night terror is noted over the course of two weeks.
The parent gently wakes the child 15 to 30 minutes before that time each night and allows them to return to sleep. This is done for two to four weeks.
Mental Health and Night Terrors
Sometimes people who experience sleep terrors become concerned about whether these events could be an indication of an underlying mental health problem. Older research on this subject has not shown a strong association between sleep terrors and psychiatric conditions.
In general, people who have psychiatric diagnoses, such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), anxiety disorders, borderline personality disorder, or schizophrenia, may be at a slightly higher risk of experiencing sleep terrors or other parasomnias.However, having sleep terrors is not an indication of an underlying or undiagnosed psychiatric condition.
Causes and Treatment of PTSD Nightmares
For Parents: When You See Your Child Having Night Terrors
If you’ve experienced night terrors in your children, you might be concerned that your child could be having a seizure or a panic attack. It can be difficult for parents to know the difference between night terrors and psychiatric illnesses or neurological conditions.
It could be helpful for you to video or audio record the episodes so that you can share the recordings with your child’s pediatrician when you take them in for an evaluation.
During a Night TerrorIf your child is having a night terror, it’s best not to wake them up, not to move them, and not to interact with them. When they wake up, be sure to allow them to talk about any distress they’re experiencing, and offer gentle reassurance.
During a Night Terror
If your child is having a night terror, it’s best not to wake them up, not to move them, and not to interact with them. When they wake up, be sure to allow them to talk about any distress they’re experiencing, and offer gentle reassurance.
Many children become stressed about a variety of things in life, ranging from exaggerated anxiety about issues that they don’t have control over to serious concerns about issues like parental fighting or bullying at school.
If you feel that you are not able to address your child’s anxiety, it could be helpful to seek professional help from someone who is experienced in counseling children and families with young children.
Summary
Night terrors, also called sleep terrors, are more common among young children than any other age group, but they can occur at any age. Sometimes sleep disruption, sleep deprivation, or daytime anxiety can contribute to the risk of having night terrors, and they can also occur as a medication side effect.
Night terrors are episodes that involve acting out a sense of terror during sleep, which can be alarming to other people but does not cause distress to the person who is experiencing the episode. Some people may feel a sense of doom or anxiety before or after a night terror. The key feature of night terrors is that people do not remember having them.
If you or your child has been experiencing night terrors, it will be helpful to see a healthcare provider who can try to identify the underlying cause and provide some guidance to help with management.
7 SourcesVerywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Leung AKC, Leung AAM, Wong AHC, Hon KL.Sleep terrors: An updated review.Curr Pediatr Rev.2020;16(3):176-182. doi:10.2174/1573396315666191014152136Laganière C, Gaudreau H, Pokhvisneva I, Kenny S, Bouvette-Turcot AA, Meaney M, Pennestri MH.Sleep terrors in early childhood and associated emotional-behavioral problems.J Clin Sleep Med. 2022;18(9):2253-2260. doi:10.5664/jcsm.10080Petit D, Pennestri MH, Paquet J, et al.Childhood sleepwalking and sleep terrors: a longitudinal study of prevalence and familial aggregation.JAMA Pediatr.2015;169(7):653-8. doi:10.1001/jamapediatrics.2015.127Futenma K, Inoue Y, Saso A, Takaesu Y, Yamashiro Y, Matsuura M.Three cases of parasomnias similar to sleep terrors occurring during sleep-wake transitions from REM sleep.J Clin Sleep Med. 2022;18(2):669-675. doi:10.5664/jcsm.9666Silber MH.Parasomnias occurring in non-rapid eye movement sleep.Continuum(Minneap Minn). 2020;26(4):946-962. doi:10.1212/CON.0000000000000877Ting CY, Thomas B.Behavioural sleep problems in children.Singapore Med J. 2023. doi:10.4103/singaporemedj.SMJ-2021-102Gau SF, Soong WT.Psychiatric comorbidity of adolescents with sleep terrors or sleepwalking: a case-control study.Aust N Z J Psychiatry.1999;33(5):734-9. doi:10.1080/j.1440-1614.1999.00610.x This is the best study that could be found, although older.
7 Sources
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Leung AKC, Leung AAM, Wong AHC, Hon KL.Sleep terrors: An updated review.Curr Pediatr Rev.2020;16(3):176-182. doi:10.2174/1573396315666191014152136Laganière C, Gaudreau H, Pokhvisneva I, Kenny S, Bouvette-Turcot AA, Meaney M, Pennestri MH.Sleep terrors in early childhood and associated emotional-behavioral problems.J Clin Sleep Med. 2022;18(9):2253-2260. doi:10.5664/jcsm.10080Petit D, Pennestri MH, Paquet J, et al.Childhood sleepwalking and sleep terrors: a longitudinal study of prevalence and familial aggregation.JAMA Pediatr.2015;169(7):653-8. doi:10.1001/jamapediatrics.2015.127Futenma K, Inoue Y, Saso A, Takaesu Y, Yamashiro Y, Matsuura M.Three cases of parasomnias similar to sleep terrors occurring during sleep-wake transitions from REM sleep.J Clin Sleep Med. 2022;18(2):669-675. doi:10.5664/jcsm.9666Silber MH.Parasomnias occurring in non-rapid eye movement sleep.Continuum(Minneap Minn). 2020;26(4):946-962. doi:10.1212/CON.0000000000000877Ting CY, Thomas B.Behavioural sleep problems in children.Singapore Med J. 2023. doi:10.4103/singaporemedj.SMJ-2021-102Gau SF, Soong WT.Psychiatric comorbidity of adolescents with sleep terrors or sleepwalking: a case-control study.Aust N Z J Psychiatry.1999;33(5):734-9. doi:10.1080/j.1440-1614.1999.00610.x This is the best study that could be found, although older.
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.
Leung AKC, Leung AAM, Wong AHC, Hon KL.Sleep terrors: An updated review.Curr Pediatr Rev.2020;16(3):176-182. doi:10.2174/1573396315666191014152136Laganière C, Gaudreau H, Pokhvisneva I, Kenny S, Bouvette-Turcot AA, Meaney M, Pennestri MH.Sleep terrors in early childhood and associated emotional-behavioral problems.J Clin Sleep Med. 2022;18(9):2253-2260. doi:10.5664/jcsm.10080Petit D, Pennestri MH, Paquet J, et al.Childhood sleepwalking and sleep terrors: a longitudinal study of prevalence and familial aggregation.JAMA Pediatr.2015;169(7):653-8. doi:10.1001/jamapediatrics.2015.127Futenma K, Inoue Y, Saso A, Takaesu Y, Yamashiro Y, Matsuura M.Three cases of parasomnias similar to sleep terrors occurring during sleep-wake transitions from REM sleep.J Clin Sleep Med. 2022;18(2):669-675. doi:10.5664/jcsm.9666Silber MH.Parasomnias occurring in non-rapid eye movement sleep.Continuum(Minneap Minn). 2020;26(4):946-962. doi:10.1212/CON.0000000000000877Ting CY, Thomas B.Behavioural sleep problems in children.Singapore Med J. 2023. doi:10.4103/singaporemedj.SMJ-2021-102Gau SF, Soong WT.Psychiatric comorbidity of adolescents with sleep terrors or sleepwalking: a case-control study.Aust N Z J Psychiatry.1999;33(5):734-9. doi:10.1080/j.1440-1614.1999.00610.x This is the best study that could be found, although older.
Leung AKC, Leung AAM, Wong AHC, Hon KL.Sleep terrors: An updated review.Curr Pediatr Rev.2020;16(3):176-182. doi:10.2174/1573396315666191014152136
Laganière C, Gaudreau H, Pokhvisneva I, Kenny S, Bouvette-Turcot AA, Meaney M, Pennestri MH.Sleep terrors in early childhood and associated emotional-behavioral problems.J Clin Sleep Med. 2022;18(9):2253-2260. doi:10.5664/jcsm.10080
Petit D, Pennestri MH, Paquet J, et al.Childhood sleepwalking and sleep terrors: a longitudinal study of prevalence and familial aggregation.JAMA Pediatr.2015;169(7):653-8. doi:10.1001/jamapediatrics.2015.127
Futenma K, Inoue Y, Saso A, Takaesu Y, Yamashiro Y, Matsuura M.Three cases of parasomnias similar to sleep terrors occurring during sleep-wake transitions from REM sleep.J Clin Sleep Med. 2022;18(2):669-675. doi:10.5664/jcsm.9666
Silber MH.Parasomnias occurring in non-rapid eye movement sleep.Continuum(Minneap Minn). 2020;26(4):946-962. doi:10.1212/CON.0000000000000877
Ting CY, Thomas B.Behavioural sleep problems in children.Singapore Med J. 2023. doi:10.4103/singaporemedj.SMJ-2021-102
Gau SF, Soong WT.Psychiatric comorbidity of adolescents with sleep terrors or sleepwalking: a case-control study.Aust N Z J Psychiatry.1999;33(5):734-9. doi:10.1080/j.1440-1614.1999.00610.x This is the best study that could be found, although older.
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