Posted by yxibow on February 7, 2006, at 0:58:59
In reply to I had a TERROR night terror read please, posted by rjlockhart on February 6, 2006, at 21:42:41
> Ok.
>
> What was that.... that was terrifing.
>
> Please post something if you read this.
>
> MattNight terrors are a very common phenomenon of sleep. The body paralyzes itself while it is asleep to prevent excess thrashing. Who knows the evolutionary reason, but that is a part of the stages of sleep. Some medications may potentiate (increase the chance) of night terrors happening. I used to have them as day terrors -- actually I still do, if I lay down for a nap on the sofa, sometimes I find myself viewing an exact picture of the room, but I cannot move.
Fighting it tends to make it worse.. you have to slowly convince yourself that you are actually awake. Time seems to pass very slowly but if you do not fight the sleep paralysis one of two things happen: you go back to sleep and dream, or more likely, you awaken and realize you are in the same place you have envisioned, often.
Its a fascinating part of the human sleep process; I'm sorry that you had such a bad experience. But it is not a pathology, you don't have to worry. Even people you think are "sane" or whatever have night terrors. My gym trainer has them. They're a normal part of the human existence and if you read about them, they transcend cultures and societies as well.
-- Jay
poster:yxibow
thread:607068
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20060205/msgs/607138.html