Night Terrors
In its article on Night Terrors Wikipedia defines them this way: "A night terror, sleep terror or pavor nocturnus is a parasomnia disorder, causing feelings of terror or dread, and typically occurring in the first few hours of sleep during stage 3 or 4 non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep. Night terrors tend to happen during periods of arousal from delta sleep, also known as slow-wave sleep. During the first half of a sleep cycle, delta sleep occurs most often, which indicates that people with more delta sleep activity are more prone to night terrors. However, they can also occur during daytime naps." The panic and terror involved far exceed what is normally experienced in nightmares (which, of course, can be horrifying, too). For some, they are connected with sleepwalking; for others, sleep paralysis is involved. What some experience in what are called alien abductions is also very similar.
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