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Nightmares vs night terrors
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The night terrors definition is feelings of great fear experienced on suddenly waking in the night. Night terrors are more common in children than in adults. It's very similar to a nightmare but with a far more dramatic presentation. Night terrors occur during a deep non-REM sleep, unlike nightmares that occur during REM. During a night terror a child may suddenly sit upright in bed and shout out or scream in distress. Night terrors are caused by over-arousal of the central nervous system during sleep. Insomnia is the inability to sleep. Insomnia can be caused by psychiatric and medical conditions, unhealthy sleep habits, specific substances, and/or certain biological factors. With insomnia, you usually awaken feeling refreshed,
Sleep is a way to conserve energy, is restorative, centers on the role of sleep in brain plasticity, and can enhance your memory. Insomnia is a sleep disorder which an individual can have problems falling asleep, waking up during the night, or waking up to early. Another is Somnambulism, which is sleepwalking or sleep talking. Nightmares are a frightening dream that awakens a dreamer from REM sleep.
Insomnia, from the Latin "in" (not) and "somnus" (sleep), is a condition characterized by difficulty falling asleep, and/or staying asleep. Insomnia can result in getting up in the morning feeling unrested and experiencing drowsiness during the day. It is not identified as a disease or diagnosis, but a symptom that causes a person to feel irritable, sleepy, and have ...
Millions of people suffer from the same tossing and turning every which way, getting their sheets all disarranged and their insistent minds abundantly worse. Patients often proclaim indications of insomnia while sitting in the family health clinic. Insomnia traits include hindrance falling asleep, continueing to awaken, and rejuvenating before wanted. One may suffer from insomnia if one shows signs of an increased difficulty in attentiveness, decreased communal or scholastic skills, and a diminished mood or enthusiasm. (Foldvary-Schaefer 111). Countless individuals deal with insomnia for a large amount of their lives and some choose differing treatments, while some do not use any treatments at all. While never being uncommon, the amounts of causes leading to insomnia come in boundlessly; finding new studies and stories every day.
Insomnia can be linked to depression, heart failure, dramatic life events, and other medical issues. Curing these problems will help you get a better nights rest. It is really rare for someone to have insomnia and no other medical conditions. If this is the case, then curing or helping insomnia is far harder, although relaxation treatments may help.
As stated in the text book, hallucination during Sleep Paralysis also occurs due to the sudden high blood pressure in the human brain and the change in the membrane potential of the neurons in the visual and/or auditory cortex. What this means is that one person starts to feel fear or terror when under the state of paralysis, it causes the blood pressure in the brain to increase. The emotion of fear is stated to be perceived in a structure called amygdala in the brain. The amygdala tends to be a small structure which is deep inside the brain and has several distinct nuclei which are the following: medial, lateral, basal, and central. According to the article “Sleep paralysis episode frequency and number, types, and structure of associated hallucinations”, the lateral nucleus seems to receive input from thalamus and cortical sensory and association areas. Then after this happens, the basolateral nucleus integrate the input as fear and send the information to the central nucleus, from which a major output transmits through projections to the hypothalamus and brainstem autonomic areas.
Causes include stress, illness, emotional or physical discomfort, environmental issues (noise, light, or extreme temperatures), use of certain medications, and disruptions in the normal sleep schedule (jet lag or switching from a day to night shift). ("Insomnia Symptoms and causes - Mayo Clinic," 2017).
Mental health conditions can also cause chronic, long-term insomnia. Some examples of mental health conditions that can cause insomnia include general anxiety disorder, depression, bipolar disorder, and schizophrenia.
According to the history, Sleep Paralysis was classified as nightmare, a term that evolved into our modern definition by Samuel Johnson. It was widely considered to be the work of the demons, which were thought to sit on the chest of the sleeper. Various forms of magic and spiritual possession were also advanced as causes. But Sleep Paralysis can occur in the state between REM sleep, where dreaming occurs, and waking up. During REM sleep, the brain paralyses the body in order to keep us away from carrying out our dream-actions that could harm ourselves somehow. At times, our brain does not put off these dreams or the paralysis that comes along with them, resulting in a potentially terrifying experience. Sleep paralysis had been linked to disorders such as migraines, anxiety disorders, and obstructive sleep apnea. But when linked to another disorder, sleep paralysis commonly occurs together with the neurological sleep disorder called Narcolepsy. David McCarty, a sleep researcher at Louisiana State Health University, explained that in sleep paralysis, two of the key REM sleep components are presen...
Almost everyone seem to suffer from not being able to get enough sleep at some time in their life. If you are always tired then that means that you’re not getting enough sleep. As we all know, inadequate sleep which is referred to as insomnia. Insomnia is basically one of the many sleeping disorders that some people may have and is one of the most common sleep disorder. There are many different effects of insomnia which includes some may become less productive, less ambitious, have a poor performance at school, work, or their everyday life tasks. Insomnia is not an illness but it is a symptom which can typically last no more than maybe a few days or it could be long term for some people. Who gets insomnia? According to Bayer (2001) “Approximately 36 out of every 100 Americans have reported experiencing this symptom [insomnia]. However, only 5 out of every 100 Americans consider the problem severe enough to seek medical help” (p. 22).
Fisher, C.J., Byrne, A., Edwards, and Kahn, E. (1970) REM and NREM nightmares. In E. Hartman (ed), Sleep and Dreaming. Boston : Little Brown
Insomnia Almost everyone experiences insomnia now and then. When one believes he must be in bed by a certain time every night or that he needs a certain number of hours of sleep, it may be the very thing that is preventing him from going to sleep (Munson 21). It is unfortunately true that many people still suffer from poor sleep but do not know that there are numerous programs that can help them. Insomnia, which is due to various causes and includes a vaiety of symptoms, can be reduced or eliminated in a number of ways. Stress is one of the main causes in determining insomnia. It is a fact of every day life and can be defined as any event which causes a significant emotional response. Happy occasions such as getting married, promoted, or going on a vacation can cause stress reaction, not only because because participation in the event is occurring but also in the preparation. More obvious events that occur throughout one's life are the loss of a job, a loved one, or the need for surgery. In such major life changes, the sources of the emotional response is much more easily identified (Shapiro MacFarlane Hussain 49). There are two types of stress: bad stress or negative stress which destroys your ability to operate at capacity, mentally and physically and good stress which improves your performance (Shapiro 49-50). There are different ways to reduce stress. One should try to find a job he really enjoys. It is not the stress of work that wears one out but the stress of frustration and failure. Two big causes of stress on the job are not knowing what is expected and not having adequate facts or tools. Escaping for a while is another method to help eliminate stress. One can visit a friend, go to a movie, or shop. When he returns, he can attempt to cope with the problem. However, it does not help to keep escaping, the individual should try to cope with problems as promptly as they arise (Hauri 111). Even though it is often difficult to make changes in lifestyle, the effort is worth it. Exchanging stress for a sense of control can lift a heavy weight from one's shoulders. The more control one has over his life during the day, the more likely it is that his night time sleep will become satisfying again (Hauri 113).
Did you ever awaken and find yourself unable to move? Perhaps you sensed a presence in your room or a pressure on your chest. This is sleep paralysis. It is a common disorder that affects millions of people. Most believe it occurs as we are on the edge of REM sleep. The disorder has been connected with such hallucinogenic events such as alien abduction or an evil presence. Sleep paralysis is an inability to move or speak, occasionally accompanied by hallucinations, for up to several minutes upon awakening or just before falling asleep.
Anxiety and stress have long been thought to be a primary cause of nightmares. According to The International Association for the Study of Dreams (IASD) traumatic life events such as major surgery, long term illness, grieving the loss of a loved one, suffering an injury or being involved in or witnessing a major accident can trigger bad dreams. But traumatic experiences are not the cause behind all nightmares. For many people, ordinary stress caused by job or financial anxiety, or major life changes such as moving or divorce, can also trigger disruptions in sleep and bad dreams. Because some nightmares are believed to be a subconscious release of emotions and inner turmoil, feelings of inadequacy, insecurities and fear may also be contributing causes for night terrors in adults and children. (I...
Usually when you end up drifting off to sleep, you fall into a deep sleep and begin to experience a so called dream.” However, most children, and even some adults, experience some even more terrifying so called dreams. These dreams are called nightmares. Nightmares have been occurring in people’s sleep for hundreds of years. People have been interested in them for centuries and they have quite an interesting past to them.
In the past sleep was viewed in a different way and according to Medical Daily in the article Insomnia: How the sleep disorder… (n.d.) “until the 1950s, most people, including researchers and physicians, thought of sleep only as a passive and dormant part of a human’s daily life”. Which ended up leading to research on how sleep affects our bodies just like food, water, and exercise. Finally according to the article Insomnia: How the sleep disorder… (n.d.) during the early 1990’s nonprofit organizations started opening up which lead to the introduction of in depth research into many sleep disorders including insomnia. Through these years the symptoms of insomnia were introduced. As seen above the symptoms can be dangerous, unhealthy, and they can also be depressing. According to the article Do I have Insomnia? (n.d.) people who suffer from chronic insomnia are affected at least 3 days out of the week and for at least a period of 3 months. During this time two big symptoms are difficulty falling asleep and staying awake. According to Medical Daily in the article Insomnia: How the sleep disorder… (n.d.) these symptoms can be brought on by stress. Because insomnia causes drowsiness, irritation, fatigue or low energy, figure 1. The Vicious Cycle of