Non-REM sleep is divided into deep and superficial. It is very difficult to wake up in deep non-REM sleep, and the disease called Night Terror, in which individuals wake up with fear, occurs during deep non-REM sleep.
This disease, also known as sleep terror, can occur at any age. This disease prevents you from getting a healthy sleep and is among the abnormal sleep disorders.
What is night terror?
Sleep terror, which is mostly seen in children, is a disease sometimes seen in adults. Night terrors seen in deep sleep cause difficulties such as fear, rapid breathing, waking up screaming and crying.
This sleep disorder can last from a few seconds to a few minutes. Sleep terror (parasomnia), which begins to decrease after puberty, can also manifest as sleepwalking and sleep paralysis. Although night terrors are seen as a frightening disease due to its name, it is a sleep disorder that can be treated.
What are the causes of night terrors?
Night terrors, also called parasomnia, occur as an unwanted behavior during sleep. Although the exact causes are not known, this disease, which is based on certain causes, is thought to occur due to respiratory problems, psychological problems and other factors.
People who have breathing problems have a higher incidence of sleep terror, and individuals who make more effort to breathe during sleep are triggered by the disease. Night terrors can also be encountered in adults with psychological problems such as depression, anxiety disorder, and bipolar disorder.
What factors play a role in night terrors?
- Anesthesia
- Tiredness
- antidepressants
- Illnesses with severe fever
- Alcohol
- Substance use
- stress disorders
- Sleep apnea
- Sleeping disorders
Now let’s look at the symptoms of night terrors:
The symptoms of sleep terror may differ according to the character of the person. The person who has an attack during sleep may wake up suddenly and remember everything, or he may not be able to wake up and have to continue to sleep with a groan.
Sleep terrors usually occur during deep sleep at night. When seen in children, although children usually do not remember anything about this condition, adults can act more consciously. Night terrors also cause sleepwalking.
- inability to wake up,
- Waking up from a drenched sleep,
- dilation of pupils,
- increase in heart rate,
- breathing frequently,
- Don’t wake up screaming,
- Don’t sit in bed without remembering anything.
- Punch and kick around
may be listed as such. If you or your child has these symptoms, it is recommended that you be examined.
How is night terror diagnosed?
Although it is difficult to diagnose this disease in adults, it is recommended to consult a doctor if the person wakes up tired and sluggish. It is recommended that people who experience sleep terrors and other sleep problems make a note of their dreams or sleep after waking up.
In this way, the doctor can diagnose the disease more easily. Alcohol use, working or being in stressful environments, psychological illnesses or breathing problems should also be explained in detail.
Can it be diagnosed with a sleep test?
This disease, which affects sleep quality, can sometimes be diagnosed in medical settings, such as in a sleep laboratory. At the same time, this disease needs to be clearly differentiated from diseases such as epilepsy. For this, a sleep test should be done. EEG, EOG and EMG are used in this test. The patient’s blood and heart functions should also be checked.
Since it is necessary to look at the different stages of sleep, the sleep process is divided into certain segments and examined in detail. If epilepsy attacks are not found in these sleep periods, night terrors can be diagnosed.
How are night terrors treated?
Sleep terror, which is less common in adulthood than in childhood, decreases with increasing age. Exacerbations seen in childhood can be overcome without the need for treatment with supervision. However, if the attacks that frequently interrupt the child’s sleep do not go away in adulthood, help from a therapist should be sought or a sleep specialist should be consulted.
We encounter many problems and these problems can appear as psychological diseases. While the causes that appear as psychological diseases increase the attacks of sleep terror, the causes of this disease should be investigated in detail and eliminated. Psychological diseases are also treated with therapy or medication.
Waking up the individual who has an attack at the same time every day is also a temporary way to have a night terror. However, it is not correct to awaken individuals during the attack process. This distinction should be made well. It is also an important treatment method for people who have had an attack to sleep during the day or to determine a regular sleep time.
If we look at drug treatment, this method is not preferred much to solve the problem of night terrors in childhood. In adult patients, the use of antidepressants can sometimes be an effective method. Although it is not used in every patient, drug therapy is also one of the preferred methods. If you are experiencing such problems, we recommend that you consult a doctor as soon as possible.
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