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Insomnia
Night sweats
Sweating in sleep
Unable to sleep
Waking up drenched in sweat
Sudden fear
Crying in sleep
Fast heartbeat at night
Not seeing your symptoms? No worries!
What is Night Terrors?
Night terrors are episodes of fear that involve screaming, flailing, or thrashing while the person is asleep and has no memory of it upon waking. They are common in children, who usually outgrow them with age. It is generally not a concern unless sleep is significantly disrupted and insufficient.
Typical Symptoms of Night Terrors
- Unable to recall abnormal behaviors or actions that I did while asleep
- When sleeping, I sometimes scream loudly and wake up
- Child cries at night
- Uncontrollable movements that usually happen at night
- Punch or strike out with fists while asleep
- Uncontrollable movements that make me subconsciously walk or wander around
- Have slept so deeply that others were unable to awaken me
- Patient unable to recall or speak his/her name and birthday
Diagnostic Questions for Night Terrors
Your doctor may ask these questions to check for this disease:
- Are you unable to remember abnormal behaviors or actions while asleep?
- Do you scream loudly and wake up while sleeping?
- Does your child cry at night without a reason?
- Do your uncontrollable movements happen at night?
- Do you punch or strike while asleep?
Treatment of Night Terrors
Medical treatment is typically not required. Treatment may be helpful for particularly disruptive night terrors or those that may compromise safety. Options include treating underlying causes (sleep apnea, stress, or anxiety), or waking the person in anticipation of an episode before a night terror begins.
Reviewed By:
Unnati Patel, MD, MSc (Family Medicine)
Dr.Patel serves as Center Medical Director and a Primary Care Physician at Oak Street Health in Arizona. She graduated from the Zhejiang University School of Medicine prior to working in clinical research focused on preventive medicine at the University of Illinois and the University of Nevada. Dr. Patel earned her MSc in Global Health from Georgetown University, during which she worked with the WHO in Sierra Leone and Save the Children in Washington, D.C. She went on to complete her Family Medicine residency in Chicago at Norwegian American Hospital before completing a fellowship in Leadership in Value-based Care in conjunction with the Northwestern University Kellogg School of Management, where she earned her MBA. Dr. Patel’s interests include health tech and teaching medical students and she currently serves as Clinical Associate Professor at the University of Arizona School of Medicine.
Yu Shirai, MD (Psychiatry)
Dr. Shirai works at the Yotsuya Yui Clinic for mental health treatment for English and Portuguese-speaking patients. He treats a wide range of patients from neurodevelopmental disorders to dementia in children and participates in knowledge sharing through the Diversity Clinic.
Content updated on Jul 19, 2024
Following the Medical Content Editorial Policy
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Link to full study:
https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2024.08.29.24312810v1References
Van Horn NL, Street M. Night Terrors. 2021 Jul 10. In: StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing; 2022 Jan–. PMID: 29630274.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK493222/Snyder DM, Goodlin-Jones BL, Pionk MJ, Stein MT. Inconsolable night-time awakening: beyond night terrors. J Dev Behav Pediatr. 2008 Aug;29(4):311-4. doi: 10.1097/DBP.0b013e3181829f4c. PMID: 18698194.
https://journals.lww.com/jrnldbp/Abstract/2008/08000/Inconsolable_Night_Time_Awakening__Beyond_Night.10.aspxBoyden SD, Pott M, Starks PT. An evolutionary perspective on night terrors. Evol Med Public Health. 2018 Apr 14;2018(1):100-105. doi: 10.1093/emph/eoy010. PMID: 29765596; PMCID: PMC5941156.
https://academic.oup.com/emph/article/2018/1/100/4971513