The Scary Truths about Sleep Terror Disorders

Sleep terror disorders can happen to any person at any age. Often children suffer from sleep terrors after an emotional scarring event or during times of stress. This is often true for adults as well. Sleep terrors occur during REM sleep when the body is supposed to be atrophied, meaning that the muscular system is stymied.

Unfortunately, people who have night terrors are able to act out their dreams, often scary and can inflict pain on themselves or others without realizing it. Sleep terrors are diagnosed by having several episodes per month of terrifying or horrific dreams that cause exasperated heartbeat, labored breathing, sweating and flailing of the body or limbs.

Sleep Terror Disorders Secondary to Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome

Whenever someone suffers something in their life that was emotionally scarring, they may have post traumatic stress syndrome. This can be caused by a critical incidence, the witness of one or can be a strictly emotional or psychological perception of stress or trouble. For instance, children who have suffered a loss, divorce or painful experience may exhibit signs of posttraumatic stress leading to sleep terror disorders.

These terrors occur at night, during the REM sleep disorder pattern. Suffers will often lash out verbally or physically and can become aggravated as they encounter a sort of ‘out of body’ experience. The disorder can be treated. One common treatment is biofeedback, which is done without pharmaceutical intervention. Other times, medications are used to help control the anxiety and feelings that are causing the terrors.