Night Terrors

Paper Summary:

The paper describes night terrors as panicked awakenings that could turn very violent. The paper looks at how to handle a situation when someone is experiencing night terrors, the symptoms of someone experiencing night terrors, the cause of these night terrors and how to prevent them from happening again. The paper then examines an experiment on night terrors and its interesting results.

From the Paper:

"A night terror, also known as sleep terror or pavor nocturnus, is a parasomnia sleep disorder. A night terror occurs in stage 3 or 4 sleep. A stage four night terror causes the "greatest heart rate acceleration possible in man" (Kahn, 533). Episodes are most common in the first third of the night and may last 10 to 20 minutes, and then normal sleep returns. Contrary to what most believe, a terror it is not a dream or night mare. Dreams occur during R.E.M, rapid eye movement sleep, while night terrors occur in N.R.E.M. sleep, non-rapid eye movement."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Alan R. "Treating sleep terrors in children. (Literature Review & Commentary)." Townsend Letter for Doctors and Patients 262 (May 2005): 22(1). Expanded Academic ASAP. Thomson Gale. Bergen Community College. 29 Nov. 2006 <http://0find.galegroup.com.sslopac.bergen.edu:80/itx/infomark.do?&contentSet=IAC-Documents&type=retrieve&tabID=T002&prodId=EAIM&docId=A132081140&source=gale&srcprod=EAIM&userGroupName=bergencc&version=1.0>.
• Crane, Elizabeth. "Handling Night Terrors." Parenting Apr. 2006: 182. Academic Search Premier. San Francisco. 28 Nov. 2006 <http://0-proquest.umi.com.sslopac.bergen.edu:80/pqdweb?did=804359281&sid=3&Fmt=3&clientId=10351&RQT=309&VName=PQD>.
• Kahn, Fisher, Edwards. The Mind in Sleep : Psychology and Psychophysiology. Hillsdale, New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 1987. 533-548.
• "Night Terrors." MedlinePlus Medical Encyclopedia. 2005. American Accreditation HealthCare Commission. 19 Nov. 2006 <http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/000809.htm>.

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