What are "night terrors?"

Question and Answer

My daughter is five years old, and she has been having some very scary nightmares lately. She wakes up screaming in the middle of the night, but she can't tell us what frightened her. The next morning, she doesn't seem to recall the dream, but something is obviously troubling her. My wife and I are worried that she may be developing psychological problems that are being expressed in these terrible dreams. Is that possible?

I think your daughter is all right. She is probably having a "night terror" rather than a nightmare. Let me describe the difference between the two. Nightmares occur primarily in what is known as "stage-three" sleep and are often remembered if the dreamer awakens. They are sometimes linked to emotional distress during waking hours and may play a role in "working through" those disturbing experiences. A person can often talk about a nightmare and recount its scary story.

Night terrors, by contrast, usually occur in "stage-four" sleep, which is even deeper and further from consciousness. In this physiological state, the body mechanisms are reduced to a minimum to sustain life. Breathing, heart rate, metabolism, and every other function go into super-slow motion. Some children experience strange dreams during this phase, which cause them to sit up and scream in terror. However, when adults come to the child's rescue, they find that the child is unresponsive. The eyes are open, but the boy or girl is obviously not awake. And the next morning, there is no memory of what was so deeply disturbing.

This appears to be what you are describing with reference to your daughter. You'll be encouraged to know that there seems to be no connection between night terrors and psychological stress. It is not predictive of any known health problems or emotional disruption. Nor do we know what causes them.

The good news is that your little girl is apparently fine. The bad news is that you may have to deal for a time with her midnight terrors that drag you from your own stage-four sleep.

Is there any way to prevent the child from having night terrors? It is happening in our house nearly every night, and it is really hard on my husband and me.

Yes, you can usually prevent your child from going into stage-four sleep by giving him or her a minor amount of medication. I wouldn't suggest that you do that unless the night terrors are regular and disruptive to adult sleep patterns. You should talk to your physician about this matter if that is the case.