what is the difference between a nightmare and a night terror?

Question

i'm not sure which one i've been having.
what are the causes for each?
what are the symptoms of each?
what is the answer for each?

Answer 1

A night terror, also known as pavor nocturnus, is a parasomnia sleep disorder characterized by extreme terror and a temporary inability to regain full consciousness. The subject wakes abruptly from slow-wave sleep, with waking usually accompanied by gasping, moaning, or screaming. It is often impossible to fully awaken the person, and after the episode the subject normally settles back to sleep without waking. A night terror can occasionally be recalled by the subject. They typically occur during non-rapid eye movement sleep.

Nightmare is the term currently used to refer to a dream which causes a strong unpleasant emotional response from the sleeper, typically fear or horror, or the sensations of pain, falling, drowning or death. Such dreams can be related to physical causes such as a high fever, or psychological ones such as psychological trauma or stress in the sleeper's life, or can have no apparent cause. If a person has experienced a psychologicaly traumatic situation in life, for example, a person who may have been captured and tortured the experience may come back to haunt them in their nightmares. Sleepers may waken in a state of distress and be unable to get back to sleep for some time.

Occasional nightmares are commonplace, but recurrent nightmares can interfere with sleep and may cause people to seek medical help. A recently proposed treatment consists of imagery rehearsal.[1] This approach appears to reduce the effects of nightmares and other symptoms in acute stress disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder.[2]

Answer 2

http://www.nightterrors.org/
Night Terror or Nightmare?: Nightmares occur during the dream phase of sleep known as REM sleep. Most people enter the REM stage of sleep sometime after 90 minutes of sleep. The circumstances of the nightmare will frighten the sleeper, who usually will wake up with a vivid memory of a long movie-like dream. Night terrors, on the other hand, occur during a phase of deep non-REM sleep usually within an hour after the subject goes to bed. This is also known as stage 4. (A link to a sleep stages chart can be found on the navigation bar to the left) During a night terror, which may last anywhere from five to twenty minutes, the person is still asleep, although the sleepers eyes may be open. When the subject does wake up, they usually have no recollection of the episode other than a sense of fear. This, however, is not always the case. Quite a few people interviewed can remember portions of the night terror, and some remember the whole thing.

Answer 3

My first kid had night terrors as a baby. She would "wake" up screaming and there was nothing I could do to calm her down. See, even though her eyes were open I could tell she was still in whatever horrible dream. I simply could not get her to wake up. She would scream and scream and I'd just hold her and rock her until finally she woke up. Sometimes it took over 15 minutes. That is a night terror.

To this day I can't figure out how a baby could have a nightmare that was that intense. I mean, come on, the worst thing that she could have been dreaming of was sour milk or a yukky diaper. It was a scary and frustrating time.

Answer 4

sure, they're medically countless issues that take place in different stages of sleep. Nightmares are merely frightening targets that take place throughout rem sleep. the toddler might desire to awaken and be quickly at a loss for words after a nightmare, yet might properly be calmed down because of the fact they have incredibly woken up. they might bear in strategies the dream later. evening terrors take place throughout deep sleep. a toddler will often look conscious (eyes open) yet quite isn't, so there is not any thank you to convenience them (they do no longer even comprehend you're there). toddlers do no longer bear in strategies evening terrors afterwards. often talking, in case your toddler has extensive open eyes and is screaming and not even recognizing your presence for 10-30 minutes, it is in all probability a evening terror. If the subsequent day they permit you realize with regard to the frightening monster, it is in all probability a nightmare.

Answer 5

I believe that a nightmare is just a very bad dream whereas a night terror has you waking up screaming and wetting the bed with other physical symptoms as well such as pounding heart and the sweats.

Answer 6

Night terror - A state of intense fear and agitation sometimes experienced, especially by children, on awakening from a stage of sleep not associated with dreaming but characterized by extremely vivid hallucinations.

Nightmare - a terrifying dream in which the dreamer experiences feelings of helplessness, extreme anxiety, sorrow, etc.

Remember that a hallucination does not equal a dream.

Answer 7

Im sure you can find info out there on the internet, but I think a night terror is when you actually get up and freak out, instead of just dreaming and keeping it in your head. I'm not 100% sure though. google it (sorry yahoo execs)

Answer 8

a nightmare is dreaming that you knocked up your girlfriend. A night terror is that the baby was you.

Answer 9

a nightmare is slimpy a dream that makes you uncomfortable
and night terror is something that makes you completely freak out

....
thats my definition

Answer 10

nightmare = bad dreams
night terror = cant sleep because youre scared of ghost/goblins/monsters