Terror attacks during sleep
Sleep terror attacks are characterized by episodes of screaming, intense fear, and flailing during the night during sleep. Terror attacks during sleep are associated with sleep walking Similar to sleepwalking, terror attacks are classified as parasomnias - unwanted occurrences during sleep
Although terrors are common in children, the disease is also present in adults An episode usually lasts a few seconds or minutes, but may last longer
Terror attacks during sleep are rare and occur in a very low percentage of children, mostly 4-12 year olds. The disease is usually not serious In most children, seizures will go away by their teenage years
If terror attacks prevent the patient from getting enough sleep or cause safety problems, medical intervention is necessary.
Many factors trigger sleep terror attacks, such as:
- Insufficient sleep and extreme fatigue
- Stress
- Fever (in children)
- Sleeping in an unusual, unfamiliar environment
- Noise or light
- Full urine The most common example of such a disease is obstructive sleep apnea
- restless legs syndrome
- migraine
- traumatic head injuries
- certain medications
Terror attacks are different from nightmares During a nightmare, the person wakes up and may remember the details, but the terror patient remains asleep.
In the morning, as a rule, children do not remember any episodes Adults may remember a fragment of a dream they had during the terror Also, nightmares are mainly present in the second half of the night, and terror attacks in the first half
During terror attacks during sleep, the patient may:
- Sit up on the bed
- Scream or scream
- Flex legs and fists
- Sweating, heavy breathing and rapid pulse
- Difficult to wake up, if awake Consult a doctor if sleep terror attacks:
- increase over time
- regularly disturbs the sleep of the patient and other family members
- instills a fear of sleep in the child
- causes dangerous behavior or traumatic injury
- develops in the same way
