What do you think Night Terrors really are?

[KylalaKitty]

Yes, Night terrors, not nightmares.


A night terror, also known as sleep terror , is a parasomnia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parasomnia) sleep disorder (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sleep_disorder) characterized by extreme terror and a temporary inability to regain full consciousness. The subject wakes abruptly from the fourth stage of sleep (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sleep#Stages_of_sleep), with waking usually accompanied by gasping, moaning, or screaming. It is often impossible to fully awaken the person, and after the episode the subject normally settles back to sleep without waking. A night terror can occasionally be recalled by the subject. night terrors are not dreams. Usually there is no situation or event (scary or otherwise) that is dreamt, but rather the emotion of fear itself is felt. Often, this is coupled with tension and apprehension without any distinct sounds or visual imagery, although sometimes a vague object of fear is identified by the sufferer. These emotions without a focusing event or scenario increase emotions in a cumulative effect. The lack of a dream itself leaves those awakened from a night terror in a state of disorientation much more severe than that caused by a normal nightmare. This can include a short period of amnesia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amnesia) during which the subject may be unable to recall his name, location, age, or any other identifying features of himself. This state generally passes after only one or two minutes.


info from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Night_terror#Night_terrors_vs._nightmares

I started having night terrors at age 6. I would go to bed, and then around 3 am I'd walk out of my room, go to another part of the house, and start screaming. Anyone who tried to touch me got kicked, punched, and bitten. Finally I was taken to a doctor and recieved medicine that has taken care of that, but yeah, no one knows for sure why night terrors happen. What are your thoughts? What do you think night terrors are and why they happen?

[Rudas Starblaze]

i have a friend who use to have "night terrors" it usually stems from a tramatic experience in ones life. my friend's parents were psycologically and physically abusive and ended up getting legally divorced on his birthday when he was 12 i think. he was all sorts of messed up for years. lucky for him he a friend like me would say "hit me as hard as you can before you kill someone." sometimes meds arent enough, some people need a physical release. one just has to becareful who they offer themselves in order for someone else to have a release. i had another friend try to get me to release my anger on him for other reasons, until i said "lets get in my truck and go somewhere else"... he realized real quick i was going to kill him if he kept pushing.

but yeah, it stems from tramatic experiences, some people block it out and it eats at them til they cant control it any longer and by then they dont know what they are "fighting" so to speak.

[Sitalique]

I had night terrors when I was a kid, about 4 or 5. Tried crawling up the walls, screaming, the whole works.

They stopped around the time that we moved and I had less contact with my Grandmother (who wasn't the nicest person, once in a rage she grabbed my arm and dug her nails into it). So we always figured it had something to do with how I was dealing with that situation.

[Starlight*Rains]

There are times that I believe that night terrors are really someone/something tormenting while in a deeper state of consciousness. My daughter is an Indigo and has night terrors frequently. She is able to recall most of what happened. There have been times that when I tried to wake her, I would "feel" something leaving her. She usually screams something to the effect of "get off me you're hurting me." My home is very active in the paranormal aspect so the actual idea of someone/something messing with her is not far fetched. I use crystals under her pillow, inside of a bag along with some herbs to help her sleep and protect her as much as possible. Hope this helps.