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If someone is having a night terror they will panic by thrashing around violently and appear to protect themselves from an invisible threat or worry about an unseen phenomenon.
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Sleep terrors start when you enter the slow wave sleep (stage 3 and 4 of sleeping). In slow wave sleep, brain and muscle activity decrease significantly. This is where your body gets rest while going into a deep sleep.
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A sudden arousal forms from the slow wave sleep stage.
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During a bout of night terror, a person will suddenly sit up and scream. They may shout out a threat like, "They're going to get me."
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While a person is having a night terror their hearts will pound rapidly, they break out into a sweat, hyperventilate, and exhibit dilated pupils.
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Sleep terrors are not dangerous and many times the victim will go through feelings of disorientation and embarrassment more than anything else.
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It can be a scary and traumatic experience for parents or loved ones to see their children or partners in such distress, as the look of fear and terror is often easily visible on the person’s face.
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If a person is having a night terror, they may mumble out a threat like, "They're going to get me."
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It is important not to try and wake the victim from their state, but to remain by them until it passes. This gives them comfort when they snap out of it, and assures you that they are not getting up and moving about while still in the state, potentially harming themselves or others in the process.
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Most people are unable to explain what happened the next day, and they have often have no memory of the event when they wake up the next morning. Or they may have vague, dreamlike images of it.
