Institute for Continuing Education

Night Terrors

Course Objectives

Upon successful completion of this module, you will be able to:

• Define the term “night terrors”.
• Identify how it is diagnosed.
• List the causes and symptoms of night terrors.
• List the treatments for night terrors.

Course Information

Night Terrors are a medical ailment and not demon possession. (Contrary to what others may tell you.) Sleep labs across the United States and Canada have shown through sleep studies, that Night Terrors happen due to increased brain activity.

The common thought among researchers is that a chemical trigger in the brain causes your brain to “misfire” and cause a Night Terror. These misfires can be caused by many factors such as stress and various other medical ailments.

People who have night terrors are often misdiagnosed. The most common one is a simple nightmare. Any of you who have had a night terror can say they aren’t even close! Another common misdiagnosis (especially among veterans) is PTSD or Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. For this reason I have included a description of the difference between nightmares and night terrors.