Night terror
| Night terror | |
|---|---|
| Other names | Sleep terror, pavor nocturnus |
| Specialty | Psychiatry, sleep medicine, clinical psychology |
| Symptoms | Feelings of panic or dread, sudden motor activity, thrashing, sweating, rapid breathing, increased heart rate |
| Usual onset | Early childhood; symptoms tend to decrease with age |
| Duration | 1 to 10 minutes |
| Differential diagnosis | Epileptic seizure, nightmares |
Night terror, also called sleep terror, is a sleep disorder causing feelings of panic or dread and typically occurring during the first hours of stage 3–4 non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep[1] and lasting for 1 to 10 minutes.[2] It can last longer, especially in children.[2] Sleep terror is classified in the category of NREM-related parasomnias in the International Classification of Sleep Disorders.[3] There are two other categories: REM-related parasomnias and other parasomnias.[3] Parasomnias are qualified as undesirable physical events or experiences that occur during entry into sleep, during sleep, or during arousal from sleep.[4]
Sleep terrors usually begin in childhood and usually decrease as age increases.[2] Factors that may lead to sleep terrors are young age, sleep deprivation, medications, stress, fever, and intrinsic sleep disorders.[5] The frequency and severity differ among individuals; the interval between episodes can be as long as weeks and as short as minutes or hours.[6] This has created a situation in which any type of nocturnal attack or nightmare may be confused with and reported as a night terror.[7]
Night terrors tend to happen during periods of arousal from delta sleep, or slow-wave sleep.[8][7] Delta sleep occurs most often during the first half of a sleep cycle, which indicates that people with more delta-sleep activity are more prone to night terrors. However, they can also occur during daytime naps.[6] Night terrors can often be mistaken for confusional arousal.[8]
While nightmares (bad dreams during REM sleep that cause feelings of horror or fear) are relatively common during childhood, night terrors occur less frequently.[9] The prevalence of sleep terrors in general is unknown.[2] The number of small children who experience sleep terror episodes (distinct from sleep terror disorder, which is recurrent and causes distress or impairment[2]) are estimated at 36.9% at 18 months of age and at 19.7% at 30 months.[2] In adults, the prevalence is lower, at only 2.2%.[2] Night terrors have been known since ancient times, although it was impossible to differentiate them from nightmares until rapid eye movement was studied.[7]
- ^ Hockenbury, Don H. Hockenbury, Sandra E. (2010). Discovering psychology (5th ed.). New York: Worth Publishers. p. 157. ISBN 978-1-4292-1650-0.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ a b c d e f g American Psychiatric Association (May 22, 2013). Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (5th ed.). American Psychiatric Association. doi:10.1176/appi.books.9780890425596. ISBN 978-0890425558.
- ^ a b Sateia, Michael J. (November 2014). "International Classification of Sleep Disorders-Third Edition". Chest. 146 (5): 1387–1394. doi:10.1378/chest.14-0970. PMID 25367475.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
:0was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Mason, T. B. A.; Pack, A. I. (2007). "Pediatric Parasomnias". Sleep. 30 (2): 141–151. doi:10.1093/sleep/30.2.141. PMID 17326539.
- ^ a b DSM-IV-TR: diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (4th ed.). American Psychiatric Press. 2000. ISBN 978-0-89042-025-6.
- ^ a b c Szelenberger, Waldemar; Niemcewicz, Szymon; Dąbrowska, Anna Justyna (2009). "Sleepwalking and night terrors: Psychopathological and psychophysiological correlates". International Review of Psychiatry. 17 (4): 263–70. doi:10.1080/09540260500104573. PMID 16194798. S2CID 28776384.
- ^ a b Bjorvatn, Bjørn; Grønli, Janne; Pallesen, Ståle (2010). "Prevalence of different parasomnias in the general population". Sleep Medicine. 11 (10): 1031–4. doi:10.1016/j.sleep.2010.07.011. PMID 21093361.
- ^ "Facts for Families No. 34: Children's Sleep Problems". AACAP.org. American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. Archived from the original on December 27, 2011. Retrieved December 20, 2011.