Sleep Terror Research Paper

There is an unpleasant experience out in the world that plagues the unfortunate in the midst of the night. Not nightmares, something quite different in fact- sleep terrors. Also known as night terrors, these are recurrent episodes of abrupt terror arousals from sleep, usually beginning with a panicked scream and may include sleepwalking (American Psychiatric Association). Like sleepwalking, sleep terrors are considered a parasomnia—an undesired occurrence during sleep (American Psychiatric Association). The possibility that someone could walk around, unaware of their actions could pose a problem. Unresponsive and vulnerable, people experiencing sleepwalking a side-affect are more susceptible to accidental self-harm or harming others. In the …show more content…
Some researchers suggest that sleep terrors are caused by a delay in the maturation of the child's central nervous system (“Sleep Terror Disorder”). Researches have, however, determined factors that indicate when this disorder is present in a patient. Factors such as sleep deprivation, psychological stress, and a high grade fever may also trigger episodes of sleep terror (“Sleep Terror Disorder”). Symptoms include: recurrent episodes of abrupt awakening from sleep, usually occurring during the first third of the major sleep episode; intense fear and signs of autonomic arousal, such as tachycardia, rapid breathing, and sweating, during each episode; relative unresponsiveness to efforts of others to comfort the person during the episode; no detailed dream is recalled and there is amnesia for the episode; the episodes cause clinically significant distress or impairment in social, occupational, or other important areas of functioning (“Treatment approach to sleep terror: two case reports.”). Sleep terrors occur during the first third of the night (Mirtazapine). The disturbance is not due to the direct physiological effects of a substance [e.g., a drug of abuse, a medication] or a general medical condition ("Diagnostic Criteria for 307.46 Sleep Terror Disorder"). There are no laboratory tests for sleep terror disorder. The diagnosis is usually made on the basis of the child's and parents' description of the symptoms. In …show more content…
But what about the people who live with them? When people care about someone with a disease or disorder, they, too, struggle. Screams in the middle of the night waking up people around them, possibly even neighbors depending how close they are. Possible harm to those who try to refrain the individual from lashing out and hurting themselves. Having to watch them suffer, seeing them hurt themselves. Many people will kick and flail around during episode resulting in cut and bruises. Then when people try to help prevent such assaults, they too can end up with scratches or worse. Family members have to cope with the possessor of the disease constantly being too tired to attend family activities. Their sleep deprivation causes their attention span to shrink, meaning conversations become difficult. It also affects the person’s productivity: becoming sluggish and unmotivated. This can result in problems with significant others. Relationships take work and communication to last, so how well will someone fare if they don’t have the energy to be present? It’s not fair to either party if only one person is putting in effort. This doesn’t mean romantic relationships are impossible by any means. It means both parties simply have to work hard and be understanding that sleep terrors have a big impact. There’s also the issues of children with sleep terrors trying to have a normal