Night Terrors

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What exactly is sleep? Sleep is a condition of the body and mind which typically recurs for several hours every night, in which the nervous system is relatively inactive, eyes closed, muscles relaxed, and consciousness is in a sense suspended. In the early 1950’s we thought sleep was the recurring activity that involves our brains “shutting down.” Research since then has found that our brains are very well active while we sleep. Sleep affects our daily functioning and our physical and mental health, a balance between too little and too much, with the ideal amount of hours asleep is between seven and eight each night.
Changes in sleeping patterns or habits, otherwise known as sleeping disorders affect many individuals lives. In fact sleeping …show more content…
Night terrors are episodes of screaming, intense fear, cry, perspiring, and thrashing around all while completely asleep that usually don’t exceed five minutes. Night terrors are more common among young children however they can occur in adults too. Children between the ages of four and twelve are more likely to have these terrors and adults really only have them when they are under major stress. These terrors are actually harmless to the individual (even though they don’t seem like it) and they don’t recall any of it the next morning. A few factors that may cause these terrors are; sleep deprivation, stress, fever (in children), sleeping in an unfamiliar environment, distracting lights or noise, and possibly an overfull bladder. Underlying causes that tend to affect sleep patterns which then causes night terrors include; sleep-disordered breathing (abnormal breathing patterns during sleep), restless legs syndrome (legs won’t stop moving), migraines, head injuries, and some medications. They are not associated with vivid dreaming making them a form of non-REM sleep. Symptoms that an individual is having a night terror range from mild to extreme. Symptoms are as followed; sitting up in the bed, screaming or shouting, kicking and thrashing, fight or flight response kicks in, hard to awaken and if awakened they are confused, are inconsolable, stare wide-eyed, out of bed and roaming around the house, and …show more content…
Sleepwalking is a behavior disorder that occurs during the state of a deep sleep and results in walking or performing certain actions all while still asleep. It’s is more common in children (fifteen to thirty percent) than adults (four to five percent) and has a higher likelihood to occur if the individual is sleep deprived. A sleepwalker typically remains in deep sleep throughout the entire episode and usually doesn’t recall what happened the next morning. Sleep walking has many contributing factors like; sleep deprivation, stress, depression, anxiety (separation anxiety among children), ever, inconsistent sleep schedule, some medications and substances (drugs prescribed for psychiatric illnesses or alcohol). Other causes that focus more on other conditions that interfere with sleep in general include; narcolepsy, gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), migraines, hyperthyroidism (head injury or stroke), and travel. There are many symptoms associated with sleepwalking but they are pretty easy to spot, from either the individual does their daily routine or they don’t respond to others all while they are asleep. A sleepwalker acts like a filly awake and functional person but more clumsier. Treatment isn't necessary for the occasional sleep walk but if it’s continuous they may need to seek advice from their doctor. Sleepwalking usually ends in children when they begin their teen years. Don’t
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