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DEFINITION:

Sleep terrors are episodes of fear, flailing and screaming while asleep. Also known as night terrors, sleep terrors often are paired with sleepwalking.

Although sleep terrors are more common in children, they can affect adults. A sleep terror episode usually lasts from seconds to a few minutes.

Sleep terrors are relatively rare, affecting only a small percentage of children — often between ages 4 and 12 — and a smaller percentage of adults. However frightening, sleep terrors aren’t usually a cause for concern. Most children outgrow sleep terrors by adolescence.

CAUSES:

Various factors can contribute to sleep terrors, including:
•Sleep deprivation
•Fatigue
•Stress
•Anxiety
•Fever (in children)
•Sleeping in unfamiliar surroundings
•Lights or noise

Sleep terrors sometimes are associated with underlying conditions that affect sleep, such as:
•Sleep-disordered breathing — a group of disorders characterized by abnormal breathing patterns during sleep, the most common of which is obstructive sleep apnea
•Migraines
•Head injuries

In other cases, use of alcohol, illegal drugs or certain medications — including some antihistamines, sedatives and sleeping pills — can trigger sleep terror episodes.