One question sleep disorder sufferers often ask is "Did I have a nightmare or a night terror? And what is the difference?" Night terrors & nightmares are actually distinctly different from one another, and the scientific classifications between the two are clear.
Nightmares are likely to take place following a period of many hours of deep sleep.
The victim remembers the dream - sometimes in exacting detail.
This is one of the biggest differences between nightmare and night terrors: the nightmare victim nearly always becomes aware that they experienced an intense dream after waking himself up or perhaps shortly thereafter.
Although the nightmare itself could get a person directly out of bed, there's hardly ever any kind of thrashing about or any physical movements that accompany the nightmare other than whimpers or perhaps some slight groans.
Once the nightmare sufferer awakens, he or she tends to remember the dream experience to have been fearful, although they may not be able to pinpoint exactly why.
Quite often, the sleeper benefits from talking about the details of their nightmare with someone close to them.
However, if a person experiences nightmares consistently over a prolonged period of time, it could indicate a more serious sleeping problem - perhaps even a bona fide sleep disorder.
Night terrors, however, take place within the first couple of hours of sleep.
When they strike, the sleeper responds with deafening shouting which is almost always accompanied by intense thrashing in bed.
Waking the sleeper up is very difficult and the sleeper usually doesn't remember much of anything other than an overwhelming sensation or perhaps a individual scene from their dream.
In many cases, the victim doesn't remember anything at all.
Nightmares and night terrors develop during distinctly different periods of sleep.
Young children who have experienced night terrors may also tend to walk in their sleep and/or discharge urine in bed.
Nightmare sufferers, on the other hand, seldom experience these reactions, regardless of their age.
Compared to nightmares, scientists really don't have a good handle on what causes night terrors.
More in-depth research is definitely needed to uncover the causes.
Once puberty arrives, children generally stop experiencing them.
In adults, however, night terrors are commonly caused by stressful daytime situations and experiences.
In cases such as this, a consultation with a doctor experienced in the field of sleep disorders would be highly recommended.
Victims of both nightmares as well as night terrors can benefit from a consultation with a sleep disorder specialist.