Though the symptoms of night terrors in adolescents and adults are similar, the cause, prognosis and treatment are qualitatively different. These night terrors can occur each night if the individual does not eat a proper diet, get the appropriate amount or quality of sleep (e.g. sleep apnea), is enduring stressful events, or if he or she remains untreated. Adult night terrors are much less common, and often respond to treatments to rectify causes of poor quality or quantity of sleep. Night terrors are classified as a mental and behavioral disorder in the ICD. A study done about night terrors in adults showed that other psychiatric symptoms were prevalent in most patients experiencing night terrors hinting at the comorbidity of the two. There is some evidence of a link between night terrors and hypoglycemia.When a night terror happens, it is typical for a person to wake up yelling and kicking and to be able to recognize what he or she is saying. The person may even run out of the house (more common among adults) which can then lead to violent actions. It has been found that some adults who have been on a long-term intrathecal clonidine therapy show side effects of night terrors, such as feelings of terror early in the sleep cycle. This is due to the possible alteration of cervical/brain clonidine concentration. In adults, night terrors can be symptomatic of neurological disease and can be further investigated through an MRI procedure.
Treatment
In most children, night terrors eventually subside and do not need to be treated. It may be helpful to reassure the child and their family that they will outgrow this disorder.The duration of one episode is mostly brief but it may last longer if parents try to wake up the child. Awakening the child may make their agitation stronger. For all these reasons, it is important to let the sleep terror episode fade away and to just be vigilant in order for them not to fall to the ground.Considering an episode could be violent, it may be advisable to secure the environment in which the child sleeps. Windows should be closed and potentially dangerous items should be removed from the bedroom, and additionally, alarms can be installed and the child placed in a downstairs bedroom.There is some evidence to suggest that night terrors can result from lack of sleep or poor sleeping habits. In these cases, it can be helpful to improve the amount and quality of sleep which the child is getting. It is also important to have a good sleep hygiene, if a child has night terrors parents could try to change their sleep hygiene. Another option could be to adapt childs naps so that they are not too long or too short. Then, excessive stress or conflicts in a childs life could also have an impact on their sleep too, so to have some strategies to cope with stress combined with psychotherapy could decrease the frequency of the episodes.