To anyone suffering from night terrors, or other traumatic things...

I have always tried to avoid any kind of medication becauase as I understand it, sleep medication is pretty addictive and I tend not to trust doctors that are really fast with a perscription pad. I'm getting to the point though that I will try just about anything. Its possible like you say about something pent up. Its hard to say because as I understand it, the underlying cause of night terrors are still a bit of a mystery.

To me it sounds like a demon messing with you... I had a friend who used to wake up with scratches and bruises and had no clue how they got there... I wouldn't know how to get rid of that other than to pray about it or exorcise yourself or somethin

I don't think sleep medication is the answer... maybe it's a form of schitzophrenia

Night terrors may run in families. They can occur in adults, especially with emotional tension and/or the use of alcohol.

Minimizing stress or using coping mechanisms may reduce night terrors. The number of episodes usually decreases after age 10.

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/000809.htm



If your child is stressed and overtired from an extra-active day or from disruption of his normal nap routines by activities, he is more likely to have a spell that night.

http://www.drhull.com/EncyMaster/N/night_terrors.html


There's no treatment for sleep terrors, but you can help prevent them. Try to:

*reduce your stress
*establish and stick to a bedtime routine that's simple and relaxing
*make sure you get enough rest
*prevent yourself from becoming overtired by staying up too late

...if sleep terrors happen repeatedly, talk to your doctor about whether a referral to a sleep specialist is needed.

http://kidshealth.org/parent/medical/sleep/terrors.html



In both adults and children, night terrors may be caused by unresolved psychological conflicts, traumatic events or fatigue. In children, traumas such as the loss of a favorite toy, overhearing a loud argument between parents, watching scenes of violence on television or listening to frightening stories could trigger a night terror.


Particularly among adults, prescription drugs such as antihistamines, decongestants, levodopa, reserpine, beta blockers, and antidepressants, as well as withdrawal from addictive drugs, all can provoke sleep disturbance.

http://www.healthscout.com/ency/68/341/main.html

To my knowledge, sleep disorder has always been viewed as separate from other forms of mental illness. I've never heard of it being referenced with schitzphrenia before. There are some people who believe that the shadowy figure described by people is a real entity but I'm not so sure. Granted I have watched documentaries where seriously extreme cases of sleep disturbance have caused bodily injury like you describe. As far as I know, thats treated as something entirely different though. Some people even have to spend there lives in the hospital because the disturbance is so severe! Thats a whole other can of worms though. That would make for a rip roaring chat thread in the religion threads though for sure. We should start one about entities and possesions and see what people have to say!

Well it's obvious I'm not an expert it's just when I hear of stuff like this it tends to sound like something traumatic happened sometime in the person's life to trigger these episodes... and okay, I'll accept that maybe it's your brain just misfiring, but it seems like it's more of a posttraumatic stress thing.. but what do I know...

The supernatural is quite extraordinary though... there's so many possibilities for illnesses caused by that realm that many people don't even think about. I've read that some cultures have a name for each demon that causes a specific disorder. Who's to say they aren't right?

i suffer with night terrors and sleep payalysis. the night terrors arnt pleasant, i wake up sweating, crying, skacking, screaming, but the worst thing ever is waking up and you cant move for 10 minutes or so, espcially when im weezing (im a asthmatic) and i cant move to get my inhaler.

i was on meds to stop the terrors and they did help, but i no longer take them. as for the sleep paraylsis, there is meds but i refused them as i was told there very strong. sleep paraysis is terrifying.

night terrors are a totally differnt thing to sleep payalysis.

sleep paraysis is when you wake up and you cant move

my son had night terrors and out grew them.If i were you I would consult a psychiatrist or therapist to try and get to the bottom of what in your subconcious is causing your fear.I will say that I have panic disorder and panic attacks can occur at anytime,even during sleep .Your symptoms do sound like a panic attack but like I said a mental health professional should be consulted ASAP.good luck.

i started having night terrors as a reaction to PTSD. I'd also developed an anxiety disorder due to the PTS and other things. They put me on klonopin at night which is only an anti-anxiety med and not a sleeping pill. And yes, my night terrors have decreased in severity and frequency. Certain things will still trigger them (sleeping in an unfamilier environment i'm finding) but they're getting better. Therepy helps too.