Night Terrors and Lucidity

[Kraftwerk]

I never ever wanted to say a nightmare was a night terror (they are 2 entirely different things) but after talking to my pyschologist about my Lucid nightmare, and other nightmares where I'd always wake up having a breathing attack, he said it was probably night terrors. This means I was fully consious during a NIGHT TERROR. Has this happened to anyone else?

[Hukif]

Maybe, would need to talk to an expert on that though... and then I would have to ask if it counts even when I was the one to cause it <.<

[AjWasHere]

I never ever wanted to say a nightmare was a night terror (they are 2 entirely different things) but after talking to my pyschologist about my Lucid nightmare, and other nightmares where I'd always wake up having a breathing attack, he said it was probably night terrors. This means I was fully consious during a NIGHT TERROR. Has this happened to anyone else? I used to get night terrors from time to time. In a night terror, you feel as if you have awakened (false awakening), but the nightmare continues, usually with accompynied sleep paralysis. That's why your psychologist thinks troubled breathing suggests night terrors. However, there could be many causes, including sleep apnea, for instance.

[moonshine]

Night terrors are a bit different from sleep paralysis I think.

[Noogah]

AHEM: Just to clarify for the people who won't understand the term "Night Terror"; A night terror (original latin; pavor nocturnus) is, in it's most basic form, a feeling of extreme terror usually accompanied by an inability to gain full conciousness. Quoting ye olde Wikipedia: The subject wakes abruptly from slow-wave sleep, with waking usually accompanied by gasping, moaning, or screaming. It is often impossible to awaken the person fully, and after the episode the subject normally settles back to sleep without waking. A night terror can rarely be recalled by the subject. They typically occur during non-rapid eye movement sleep. Original Article

[moonshine]

So you basically wake up scared, without knowing why. As opposed to being paralysed as imagining old women sitting on your chest But it does sound like there's an overlap. Wouldn't be surprised if night terrors involved some of the brain mechanisms which make SP such a bad trip.

[Noogah]

I believe the difference is basically the biological processes involved in each, albeit, either can be terrifying.

[Viat]

Just to clarify, though maybe I was getting the wrong end of the stick, sleep apnea and sleep paralysis are very different. Sleep apnea being the occurrence where you stop breathing during your sleep briefly -- though you generally don't notice (being asleep) it can freak out those around you. Sleep paralysis being when you awake from a dream and the relaxants/restraints (for want of a better word -- not a biologist, feel free to correct me ) in your body keep your body immobile for a while (normally to stop you from thrashing about during dreams) False awakenings could feel like any of these -- they're just another dream, though I've found to be exceptionally tricky to spot as one.

[O'nus]

Babies most often have NREM night terrors. It is something that is still curiously investigated by sleep researchers on the causation. Typically, you always wake up for "night terrors" or "NREM" nightmares. This is due to the theory that your body is awakening during the random firing of NREM sleep. The reticular activation system is functionally responsible for awakening you and it likely happens to be the case that you awaken before all the monoamine neurotransmitters are flowing properly yet. As a result, you have exaggerated emotional reactions to this. It is possible to have the opposite, NREM "Wet Dreams", etc. ~