Case Study # 3 Jessica is 6 years old. Her parents recently saw her pediatrician because they were concerned about the sleeping difficulties Jessica has been having. Often she would scream out loud in her sleep. Her parents would rush to her room and find her sitting upright in bed, panting heavily in a state of panic. Jessica would not respond to her parent’s words of consolation, and the next morning she would have no memory of the incident at all. Her parents were worried about the anxiety their daughter was experiencing and asked the pediatrician what they could do about her nightmares. The pediatrician explained Jessica was likely suffering from sleep terrors and carefully described what that meant.

1. What are the similarities and differences between nightmares and sleep terrors? Sleep terrors are repeated episodes of awakening from slow-wave, stage 3, sleep (Norris, 2019, loc. 23158). They usually occur during the first third of the night, most are brief, but may last up to 40 minutes[Nor191]. In a typical episode the child sits up abruptly in bed, appears frightened, demonstrates extreme anxiety, dilated pupils, excess perspiration, rapid breathing, and tachycardia[Nor191]. Attempting to calm or comfort the child is futile, as it will subside on their own. There is no memory the event. Nightmares are vivid and terrifying nocturnal episodes in which the dreamer is awakened by the nightmare and has difficultly going back to sleep[Nor191]. Most nightmares occur during REM sleep