What is the Difference Between Nightmares and Night-terrors?

Question

Can I please have some really detailed answers?

Answer 1

This is not a scientific explanation, just one from personal experience.

Nightmares are like any dream, you stay in bed as usual, eyes closed (for the most part) except that the content of the dream is usually strong and either frightening or causes a lot of anxiety. When you wake up and remember the nightmare, it can leave you feeling very drained emotionally and very anxious.

Night terrors are different. I know usually children have them and they outgrow this (but don't quote me on this). Basically in the middle of sleep the child may sit up and seem very agitated and scream and not recognize anyone when they approach, even parents. You are not to try and shake them awake, they are actually still asleep, but the mechanism which usually prevents people from acting out during REM sleeping, doesn't function. This night terror episode will pass after 10-20 minutes and they just go back to sleep. They usually have no recollection of this when they wake up.

I experienced my own daughter's night terror when she was a toddler, about 2. It was frightening. If someone hadn't told me about it first I would have freaked out and would have tried to wake her. She cried and yelled for 20 minutes while I stood in front of her, as if I were air, she didn't recognize me, it's as if she was in a different realm. It eventually passed, she went back to sleep and in the morning, she was fine. It only happened once with my daughter, but a friend of mine, she had this with her son for about 2 years, about once a week, and then he outgrew it.

Answer 2

Night terrors are distinct from nightmares in several key ways. First, the subject is not fully awake when roused, and even when efforts are made to awaken the sleeper, he/she may continue to experience the night terror for ten to twenty minutes. Unlike nightmares, which occur during REM sleep, night terrors occur during slow-wave sleep, the deepest level of NREM sleep. Even if awakened, the subject often cannot remember the episode except for a sense of panic, while nightmares usually can be easily recalled.

Unlike nightmares, which are frequently dreams of a frightening nature, night terrors are not recalled dreams. Usually there is no situation or event (scary or otherwise) that is dreamed, but rather the emotion of fear itself is felt. Often, this is coupled with tension and apprehension without any distinct sounds or visual imagery, although sometimes a vague object of fear is identified by the sufferer. These emotions, generally without a focusing event or scenario, increase emotions in a cumulative effect. The lack of a dream itself leaves those awakened from a night terror in a state of disorientation much more severe than that caused by a normal nightmare. This can include a short period of amnesia during which the subjects may be unable to recall their names, locations, ages, or any other identifying features of themselves.

Copy and Pasted from Wikipedia.org :D