It is a movement disorder with behavioral and emotional reactions seen during sleep. The difference from a nightmare, that is, a scary dream, is that in nightmares, a person can wake up more easily and fall asleep again after calming down. In sleep terror, it is not possible to wake the person up or make the person conscious, that is, to raise awareness.
Stress, extreme fatigue, fever, medication use, sleeping in a different place can trigger sleep terror.
Frequent in childhood. It is a condition that begins and rarely continues in adults. It is a frightening event that makes people who witness it uneasy. However, knowing that it will end on its own, waiting patiently, and preventing it from harming itself and those around it will be enough. It is unnecessary to try to wake the person up, because even if he wakes up, he will not be himself and he will not remember.
It is recommended to investigate the reasons that may trigger it, to eliminate it, if any, and to apply for psychiatric treatment if it has started to affect the person's life and the people he lives with.
The fear of sleep is deep. It occurs during non-REM sleep. Fear of sleep, unlike nightmares, is not associated with dreams, but rather occurs with sudden fearful awakening as one sleep period passes from one sleep period to another. Most often, fear of sleep occurs 2-3 hours after the child falls asleep, while transitioning from the deepest non-REM sleep period to the REM sleep period where dreams occur. While this transition normally occurs silently, it may rarely cause a fear reaction in the child. During sleep, the child suddenly sits up in bed and screams as a sign of fear, then begins to cry. The child breathes rapidly, his heart rate increases, he may sweat, and he writhes and screams in fear. This state lasts a few minutes or longer, then the child calms down and falls asleep again. Unlike a nightmare, the child does not remember this event the next day. However, in a nightmare, the child may remember the dream he had last night and that he was afraid the next day. The reason for this is that when one wakes up from REM sleep (a nightmare occurs in REM sleep), this can be remembered the next day, but when one wakes up from deep non-REM sleep, this cannot be remembered.
Fear of sleep is seen in children over the age of 2 until adulthood. The possible reason is that it is still developing. These are the sleep periods of the brain and minor disruptions in the transition from one period to another. In the majority of children with sleep phobia, at least one of their family members has a similar situation, and these children have additional parasomias such as frequent awakenings and sleepwalking.
Excessive fatigue, stress, fever, medication use such as antibiotics, being in a different bed than their bed. Factors such as sleeping on the floor increase the likelihood of experiencing sleep fear.
While sleep nightmares are seen in 3-5% of children, nightmares are a rare condition that can be seen in almost every child. Fear of sleep is mostly seen between the ages of 4-12 and is slightly more common in boys. It disappears with the transition to adulthood.
What should parents do during sleep terrors?
Fear of sleep is a frightening situation that causes panic in the family. The child screams, throws his arms around and does not respond, being impervious to any suggestion. The family's duty is to wait patiently, knowing that this is an event that lasts a few minutes and that it will end, and to prevent the child from harming himself due to his actions. After this process has passed, the child will fall asleep again, so no effort should be made to wake the child. Even if it is tried to be woken up, the child will not wake up, and even if he can be woken up, he will be dizzy and unconscious.
If the fear of sleep is not very frequent, it is not a condition that needs to be treated. However, it would be beneficial to eliminate the factors that increase the fear of sleep. These are simple measures such as relieving the child's school stress, anxiety about the upcoming sibling, and avoiding excessive school or sports fatigue.
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