Night Terrors, A Simple Guide To The Condition, Diagnosis, Treatment And Related Conditions

By Kenneth Kee

This book describes Night Terrors, Diagnosis and Treatment and Related Diseases

When I was a young boy I used to be wakened up by my brothers who said that I was disturbing their sleep by thrashing and screaming in my sleep.
Mind you they were not concerned about me but about the fact that I was disturbing their sleep.
I did not remember what happened in my sleep.
May be it happened only after a high fever when I was stung by a jellyfish or it could be due to the concussion that occurred after a fall while climbing a high tree.

After a few months my night terror problem probably stopped because my brothers did not wake me up during my sleep.

Night terrors (also called sleep terrors) are a sleep disorder in which a person quickly wakes from sleep in a terrified state.

Night terrors are events of intense screaming, crying, thrashing, or fear during sleep that happen again and again, normally in children ages 3 to 12.

Night terrors happen during non-REM sleep, normally about 90 minutes after a child falls asleep.

Night terrors tend likely to run in families.

Causes

Night terror is a sleep disorder producing feelings of panic or dread normally happening during the first hours of stage 3–4 non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep and persisting for 1 to 10 minutes.

Night terrors normally start in childhood and normally diminish with age.

Risk factors which may cause night terrors are:
1. Young age,
2. Sleep deprivation,
3. Medicines,
4. Stress,
5. Fever, and
6. Intrinsic sleep disorders.

While the frequency and severity vary between different persons, the incidents can happen in intervals of days or weeks but can also happen over successive nights or many times in one night.

Night terrors are likely to happen during periods of arousal from delta sleep.

Delta sleep (called slow-wave sleep) happens most often during the first half of a sleep cycle, which suggests that people with more delta-sleep activity are more susceptible to night terrors.

They can also happen during daytime naps.

They can persist longer, particularly in children.

The precise cause is not known, but night terrors may be activated by:
1. Fever
2. Lack of sleep
3. Periods of emotional tension, stress, or conflict

They can happen in adults, particularly when there is emotional tension or alcohol use.

Most of the time, they have no definite cause.

But certain things might have a part, such as:
1. Stress
2. Depression or anxiety
3. Fever
4. Too much caffeine
5. Sleeping in a different place or away from home
6. Lack of sleep
7. Medicines that affect the central nervous system (the brain)
8. Restless legs syndrome
9. Sleep disorders like sleep apnea
10. Recent anesthesia for surgery

Symptoms

Night terrors are most frequent during the first third of the night often between midnight and 2 a.m.
During a night terror episode, a child might:
1. Sit up in bed
2. Flail around in bed
3. Scream
4. Look awake but be confused
5. Seem like they don’t know that a parent is there
6. Not talk
7. Not respond when a parent comforts them
8. Most episodes last only a few minutes, but it may take up to 30 minutes before the child relaxes and goes back to sleep.

They often have no memory of the incident when they wake up the next day
Night terrors are not dangerous, but they can disrupt the child’s sleep.

In many cases, a child who has a night terror only requires to be comforted.

In most children, night terrors ultimately subside and do not need to be treated.

It may be useful to reassure the child and their family that they will outgrow this disorder.

Decreasing stress or coping mechanisms, talk therapy or counseling and hypnosis may decrease night terrors.

TABLE OF CONTENT
Introduction
Chapter 1

• Language: English
• Publisher: Kenneth Kee
• Release date: Dec 26, 2019
• ISBN: 9780463333136

Kenneth Kee

Dr. Kenneth Kee is a well-known medical doctor from Singapore who has been practicing medicine since 1972. He graduated from the University of Singapore and furthered his studies with a Master of Science in Health Management in 1991, followed by a Ph.D. in Healthcare Administration in 1993. Dr. Kee established Kee Clinic in 1974, located in the Holland Drive area of Singapore. The clinic has been a prominent feature of the community, offering general medical services for 5 decades. Dr Kee also served his country Singapore as a national service police Inspector at night from 1975 to 1985 while working at his clinic during the day. He had served as a police guard to the Woodland Petroleum Tanks at night during the Indonesian Confrontation period, took part in police rounds at night in the Beach Road area and taught First aid and emergency resuscitation to Police recruits. He received the Singapore Police Bicentennial 2020 Medallion on 1st March 2024 as recognition for his work in the Singapore Police. Even as he grew older, Dr. Kee continued to work actively in his clinic, although he eventually reduced his consultation hours. Beyond his medical career, Dr. Kee is also an author. He started writing about medical conditions in 2007, using blogs and other online platforms to share his knowledge with a broader audience. Over time, he published various books, many of which provide simple and accessible guides to different health conditions. His works include "A Family Doctor's Tale," "My Personal Singapore History," and numerous medical guides, available through platforms like Amazon. His books often combine his personal experiences as a family doctor with insights into Singapore's healthcare system and history. Dr. Kee has written extensively on health topics, contributing to both medical literature and general knowledge resources. Dr. Kenneth Kee has written numerous books, primarily focused on health education and personal experiences as a family doctor. Some of his notable titles include: "A Family Doctor's Tale" This book is a blend of Dr. Kee's personal experiences and his reflections on being a family doctor in Singapore. It's a great choice if you're looking for a narrative that combines both medical knowledge and human stories. "Specialized Medical Conditions" Books like **"Congestive Heart Failure: Diagnosis and Treatment"** focus on specific conditions, offering in-dept...

Book preview

Night Terrors,

A

Simple

Guide

To

The Condition,

Diagnosis,

Treatment

And

Related Conditions

By

Dr Kenneth Kee

M.B.,B.S. (Singapore)

Ph.D (Healthcare Administration)

Copyright Kenneth Kee 2019 Smashwords Edition

Published by Kenneth Kee at Smashwords.com

Dedication

This book is dedicated

To my wife Dorothy

And my children

Carolyn, Grace

And Kelvin

This book describes Night Terrors, Diagnosis and Treatment and Related Diseases which is seen in some of my patients in my Family Clinic.

(What You Need to Treat Night Terrors)

This e-Book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This eBook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each reader.

If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy.

Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

Introduction

I have been writing medical articles for my blog: http://kennethkee.blogspot.com (A Simple Guide to Medical Disorder) for the benefit of my patients since 2007.

My purpose in writing these simple guides was for the health education of my patients.

Health Education was also my dissertation for my Ph.D (Healthcare Administration).

I then wrote an autobiography account of my journey as a medical student to family doctor on my other blog: http://afamilydoctorstale.blogspot.com.

This autobiography account A Family Doctor’s Tale was combined with my early A Simple Guide to Medical Disorders into a new Wordpress Blog A Family Doctor’s Tale on http://kenkee481.wordpress.com.

From which many free articles from the blog was taken and put together into 800 eBooks.

Some people have complained that the simple guides are too simple.

For their information they are made simple in order to educate the patients.

The later books go into more details of medical disorders.

The first chapter is always from my earlier blogs which unfortunately tends to have typos and spelling mistakes.

Since 2013, I have tried to improve my spelling and writing.

As I tried to bring the patient the latest information about a disorder or illness by reading the latest journals both online and offline, I find that I am learning more and improving on my own medical knowledge in diagnosis and treatment for my patients.

Just by writing all these simple guides I find that I have learned a lot from your reviews (good or bad), criticism and advice.

I am sorry for the repetitions in these simple guides as the second chapters onwards have new information as compared to my first chapter taken from my blog.

I also find repetition definitely help me and maybe some readers to remember the facts in the books more easily.

I apologize if these repetitions are irritating to some readers.

Chapter 1

Night terrors

What are Night terrors?

Night terrors (also called sleep terrors) are a sleep disorder in which a person quickly wakes from sleep in a terrified state.

Night terrors are events of intense screaming, crying, thrashing, or fear during sleep that happen again and again, normally in children ages 3 to 12.

New cases reach a peak at age 31/2 years.

There are 2 main stages of sleep:

1. Rapid eye movement (REM) and

2. Non-rapid eye movement (non-REM).

Night terrors happen during non-REM sleep, normally about 90 minutes after a child falls asleep.

Night terrors tend likely to run in families.

The incidence of sleep terrors in general is not known.

The amount of small children who have night terror incidents (distinct from night terror disorder, which is repeatedly recurrent and produces distress or impairment) are evaluated at 36.9% at 18 months of age and at 19.7% at 30 months.

In adults, the incidence is lower, at only 2.2%.

About 1 to 6 in 100 children have these night terrors.

They happen to both boys and girls, and to children of all races.

Night terrors in children are also more likely to happen in males than females while in adults, the ratio between sexes is equal.

What are the causes of Night terrors?

Causes

Night terror is a sleep disorder producing feelings of panic or dread normally happening during the first hours of stage 3–4 non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep and persisting for 1 to 10 minutes.

Sleep terrors are then categorized in the NREM-related para-somnias in the International Classification of Sleep Disorders.

There are 2 other categories:

1. REM-related para-somnias and

2. Other para-somnias.

Para-somnias are portrayed as undesirable physical incidents or experiences that happen during entry into sleep, within sleep, or during arousal from sleep.

Night terrors normally start in childhood and normally diminish with age.

Risk factors which may cause night terrors are:

1. Young age,

2. Sleep deprivation,

3. Medicines,

4. Stress,

5. Fever, and

6. Intrinsic sleep disorders.

While the frequency and severity vary between different persons, the incidents can happen in intervals of days or weeks but can also happen over successive nights or many times in one night.

This has produced a situation in which any form of nocturnal attack or nightmare may be mistaken for and reported as a night terror.

Night terrors are likely to