Scary sleep

[dreamwalker007]

One night, I had something I'm not sure if I was asleep or not. Anyway, I was in my bed and I was filled with terror. In remembering it, it seems extremely illogical, but I think it had something to do with a book I just finished "Out of the Silent Planet" which is strange because it's definately not a scary book. It's not a very good description of it but if you have any ideas what it was, tell me.

[muse.v]

what were you thinking about at the time? how does it relate to that book? it was probably some sort of brain phase that people get when waking up... dunno. *reads book review* maybe you were abducted by aliens!

[dreamwalker007]

It's not a scary book, it's definately more philosophical. I know that I get a similar feeling when I pinch and hold my skin for a bit (not hurtfully) but that's not really scary, it just freaks me out and sometimes I do it just for fun . Oh well, it's over now but it would be nice to know what it was......

[reikigirl]

Were you able to move while you were that scared?

[Kaniaz]

While you all played diagnostic dave; I went and got some information. You may of had Night Terror - because you're not sure if you were fully conscious and awake, I can't fully conclude wether or not it was that. I'll leave it up to you to figure out. After all, you were the person that experienced it. I doubt you screamed, as you didn't mention that, but I suppose it's worth finding everything. A night terror, also known as pavor nocturnus, is a sleep disorder characterized by extreme terror and a temporary inability to regain full consciousness. The night terror is usually accompanied by gasping, moaning, or screaming. It is often impossible to fully awaken the person, and after the episode the victim normally settles back to sleep without waking. Night terrors are distinct from nightmares in several key ways. First, the person is not fully awake when roused, and even when efforts are made to awaken the sleeper, they may continue to experience the night terror for over 10 or 20 minutes. Unlike nightmares, night terrors occur during the deepest levels of non-REM sleep. Furthermore even if awakened the victim can often not remember the episode except for a sense of panic, while nightmares are easily recalled. Children from age four to six are most prone to night terrors, and they affect about three percent of all youngsters. Episodes may recur for a couple of weeks then suddenly disappear. They usually occur during the first couple of hours of sleep. Strong evidence has shown that a predisposition to night terrors can be passed genetically. Though there are a multitude of triggers, emotional stress during the previous day is thought to precipitate most episodes. Ensuring that the right amount of sleep is gained also seems to be important. The consensus for treating night terror episodes is three-pronged: gentleness, disposal of anything nearby that might hurt the victim, and avoiding loud voices or movements that might frighten the victim further. Night terrors are so transitory that medical help is often unnecessary, but options may range from treatment of sleep apnea to prescription of benzodiazepines and psychotherapy.[/b] (Free, under GNU Free Documentation License). And reikigirl was going to get at Sleep Paralysis; which could also of been it. Once again; because you we'rent sure if you were awake or not, I can't really tell you what it exactly was. And finally, you may also want to read about False Awakenings. It could of been that; because in dreams it tends to be that people are scared of things that they usually wouldn't of been of in waking life.

[dreamwalker007]

Night terrors did cross my mind but I didn’t know enough about them to actually know. Thanks for the info. If I was awake, I could move. I don’t think I got all of it in my first description. It was a long time ago and I forgot a lot of it. I’m gonna post what I put in my dream journal (It wasn’t the first thing in there that day). 6-1-04 6-2-04 I don’t know if this next part was a dream or not. I had a definite sense it was completely about ”Out of the Silent Planet” that I just finished. There was some sort of light or white thing that was diminishing and I don’t know if I was controlling it or not. It felt like something I needed to do needed a very high amount of precision that I don’t have. It also felt like something was ending forever. I was absolutely terrified by this near tears but I couldn’t stop thinking about it. Eventually the fear diminished. P.S I think the light/white was in space. That’s what I put in. By the way, the thing about the precision that I don’t have, really bothered me a lot at the time.

[reikigirl]

My son who is now three, had really bad night terrors from the age of 2 to about 2-1/2. He would wake up screaming in the middle of night. I would try desperately to comfort him, but even though he was awake it was like he didn't see me. Anytime I tried to touch him in comfort, he would scream even louder and try to get away from me. This usually lasted about 15-20 minutes. After which he would just suddenly become quiet, and look at me, cuddle with me, and fall drowsily back to sleep. I guess he just "snapped" out of it, or "woke up". Everytime it happend it scared me out of my wits!! He's so little you know? I couldn't do anything to soothe him, except let it run it's course. He hasn't had any in the last six months or so. Thank Goodness!!

[Dr.Strangelove]

Hi! I am just writing to find out if any of you have this problem, see everytime I sleep on my back ( I find), as soon as I am asleep REM I suppose (not too up on the technical terms), anyway I just get all this noise in my head and I get really frightened, there are rarely images, I often believe I am awake when having these dreams but then realise I am not and the noise starts again and I am terrified. Its sort of like being smothered, I can`t really explain, but I can`t wake up from them. When I finally do, only 15- 20 mins has passed but I am still scared and trust me I am not one who is scared easily, there is nothing actually frightening about them only the experience !!! I know I haven`t made much sense but if any of you have a similare experience PLEEEEEEEEEEEEEASE!! share it with me

[reikigirl]

see everytime I sleep on my back ( I find), as soon as I am asleep REM I suppose (not too up on the technical terms), anyway I just get all this noise in my head and I get really frightened, there are rarely images, I often believe I am awake when having these dreams but then realise I am not and the noise starts again and I am terrified. Its sort of like being smothered, I can`t really explain, but I can`t wake up from them. When I finally do, only 15- 20 mins has passed but I am still scared and trust me I am not one who is scared easily, there is nothing actually frightening about them only the experience !!! [/b] You said there are rarely images. What did you mean by that? What do you see? Is it all black or do you see your room, or anything else?? What does the noise sound like?