Pavor nocturnus – Top Medical Schools

Pavor nocturnus is the medical term for a sleep disorder. It is particularly evident in children and is also known as night terrors.

What is pavor nocturnus?

The term pavor nocturnus comes from Latin and means “nocturnal fear”. The sleep disorder is also known as night terrors or night terrors. Pavor nocturnus is one of the parasomnias (abnormalities during sleep) and occurs primarily in small children or school children. See foodanddrinkjournal for HS Dictionary Definitions.

In some cases, however, adults also suffer from this sleep problem throughout their lives. Not infrequently, night terrors are associated with sleepwalking or talking during sleep, but are generally considered harmless. Between one and six percent of all children suffer from pavor nocturnus. The sleep disorder usually runs in families.

Night terrors are most common between the ages of 5 and 7. After puberty, pavor nocturnus rarely occurs. The disease occurs more frequently in boys than in women. However, no more than one percent of all affected children suffer from night terrors more than once a week. Babies are only very rarely affected by the sleep disorder.

Causes

The reasons for the pavor nocturnus have not yet been determined. Medicine classifies night terrors as a mental disorder. However, the sleep disorder is not a mental illness. Even a faulty upbringing has nothing to do with the phenomenon.

The affected children wake up from sleep when there is a disturbance of the alternation of deep sleep and dream sleep. In this case, there is a kind of overexcitation of the nervous system. Special maturation processes within the central nervous system are also considered possible triggers of night terrors. In most cases, pavor nocturnus in children resolves on its own over time.

Adults who experience night terrors have an unusually large number of deep sleep episodes. Doctors take this as an indication of a family predisposition. There are also some risk factors that favor the occurrence of pavor nocturnus.

Apart from family influences, these are mental and physical stress such as lack of sleep, heavy strain, taking certain medications, special experiences, sleeping in an unfamiliar environment or fever. If a child doesn’t get any sleep for a night, it’s possible that they’ll have more deep sleep the next night, increasing the risk of night terrors.

Symptoms, Ailments & Signs

A typical symptom of pavor nocturnus is a loud cry that the child makes two to three hours after falling asleep. In addition, side effects such as rapid breathing, tachycardia and cold sweat occur. Although the affected child makes an anxious impression, it cannot be spoken to or awakened.

Sometimes the child’s eyes are wide open or it even sits up, but it still doesn’t wake up. In extreme cases, the child will jump out of bed and run away without paying attention to their surroundings, sometimes resulting in injury.

Normal sleep usually returns about 15 minutes after this process. The next morning, the children have no memory of the night terrors. Although most parents are very concerned about pavor nocturnus, the sleep disorder is not considered dangerous to the child’s health. Since the memory of the process is usually missing, there are no mental disorders.

Diagnosis & course of disease

If the pavor nocturnus occurs only occasionally, there is no need to worry. However, if night terrors occur more than once a week between the ages of 6 and 7, it is recommended that you consult a doctor. When making a diagnosis, the doctor must make a distinction between pavor nocturnus and other sleep disorders.

These can mainly be nightmares that have a similar effect to the night terrors. An examination in a sleep laboratory is considered effective. To diagnose pavor nocturnus, the doctor asks how the child behaves at night, what time the night terrors occur, whether there are memories of the event, and how often it occurs.

Possible pre-existing conditions such as epilepsy are also of interest. The doctor gets his information from the parents or outsiders. In most cases, the course of the pavor nocturnus is positive because it disappears on its own over time. In some cases, medical treatment may also be required. For some people, night terrors last into adulthood.

Complications

Pavor nocturnus can be associated with significant sleep disturbances. These occur mainly in children and can lead to severe mental health problems or even depression. Furthermore, the development of the child can be significantly disturbed and delayed. Those affected suffer from heart palpitations and cold sweats at night.

Rapid breathing can also occur. In most cases, children cry out in their sleep and suffer from confusion and anxiety. During the day, the children are usually tired because they have not received enough sleep. This leads to problems concentrating. Likewise, with this disease, the child can injure himself at night. The children themselves no longer remember the outcry in their sleep.

However, it is primarily the relatives and parents who suffer from the psychological symptoms of pavor nocturnus. A direct and causal treatment of the pavor nocturnus is usually not possible. Avoiding stress can reduce symptoms. The child may also need psychological treatment. Whether this will lead to a positive course of the disease cannot be predicted.

When should you go to the doctor?

If you keep waking up with a start and notice anxiety and physical symptoms such as cold sweats or a fast pulse, you should consult a doctor. Parents who notice such sleep disorders in their child should speak to the pediatrician. The pavor nocturnus is basically harmless, but should be diagnosed so that the person affected can be relieved of their fear.

For children, a visit to a sleep laboratory is recommended, where the patients learn about the causes of night terrors and can often reduce them as a result. If the sleep problems occur in connection with sleepwalking and other disorders, drug treatment is sometimes useful. The administration of light sedatives and other preparations can reduce the pavor nocturnus and any accompanying symptoms.

This reduces the likelihood of panic attacks, accidents and other complications. Night terrors are diagnosed and treated by a neurologist or a psychiatrist and psychotherapist. Those affected can first talk to their family doctor, who can often make a suspected diagnosis based on the anamnesis and thus give the patient orientation for further measures.

Treatment & Therapy

Treatment of pavor nocturnus is rarely required in childhood. In most cases, psychotherapeutic measures are then taken to reduce stress, because this promotes the nocturnal attacks. It is important that the child relaxes, follows a regular bedtime schedule and has a safe sleeping environment.

Night terrors are particularly distressing in adulthood. In this case, relaxation methods such as progressive muscle relaxation or autogenic training make sense. Behavioral therapy is also considered helpful for dealing with the sleep disorder in a relaxed manner. Drugs are only occasionally prescribed for the treatment of pavor nocturnus.

Outlook & Forecast

The sleep disorder occurs in most cases in small children or school children. The prognosis in these patients is almost always favorable. There is a transient sleep irregularity that occurs primarily between the ages of five and seven and ends in spontaneous recovery. The disorders last for a few months or years and disappear in the course of the development process just as suddenly as they appeared. It can happen that relapses occur again and again until adulthood. These are temporary and usually not a cause for concern.

The prognosis worsens for those affected who suffer from the sleep disorders in the long term. In adults in particular, it can lead to significant impairments in the daily management of obligations. Once disruptions to sleep are of sustained duration and intensity, more health problems can be expected. Consequential disorders due to the psychological stress occur, so that intensive medical care is necessary in order to alleviate the symptoms.

Psychological support is usually required so that improvements can be documented. Many of those affected choose the path of medical support without adequate medical consultation. This increases the risk of complications. In addition, an increase in other health irregularities is to be expected.

Prevention

Preventive measures against pavor nocturnus are not known. So far, the exact causes of the sleep disorder have not been found.

Aftercare

Due to the pavor nocturnus, those affected suffer from various sleep disorders. These occur mainly in children and can lead to severe mental health problems or even depression. Furthermore, the development of the child can be significantly disturbed and delayed. Those affected suffer from heart palpitations and cold sweats at night.

Rapid breathing can also occur. In most cases, children cry out in their sleep and suffer from confusion and anxiety. During the day, the children are usually tired due to the pavor nocturnus because they have not received enough sleep. This leads to problems concentrating. Likewise, with this disease, the child can injure himself at night.

You can do that yourself

Affected people who suffer from sleep disorders should check and optimize their sleep hygiene. The selection of the mattress and the sleeping utensils must be adapted to the needs of the body. The ambient temperature during night sleep should be neither too cold nor too warm. Sufficient oxygen supply is important and ambient noise is to be minimized.

A few hours before bedtime, no meals, sugary foods or caffeinated products should be consumed. The intake of liquids should also be slowly reduced at the end of the day, so that waking up due to going to the toilet can be ruled out. A regular sleep-wake cycle and adequate sleep are helpful. The organism works in certain rhythms, which should be adhered to as far as possible for optimal regeneration of the body. A lack of sleep can lead to health problems that go beyond sleep problems. A stay in a sleep laboratory can be helpful and bring new insights.

Since it is mainly children who suffer from pavor nocturnus, they should not be left unattended at night. Sleeping in your own bed with quick access to the parent’s bedroom is recommended. If the child wakes up during the night, soothing words are helpful. Stress, hectic or criticism should be avoided. In order to be able to continue sleeping as quickly as possible, caring and understanding help the child.