If you or a partner has ever sat bolt upright mid-sleep, screaming or thrashing, only to have no memory of it the next morning, you’ve likely encountered a night terror. It looks alarming, especially to whoever witnesses it. What it actually is turns out to be less alarming than it looks.
Key points
- Night terrors happen in deep non-REM sleep, unlike nightmares, which happen in REM sleep - that’s the whole reason you don’t remember them (Cleveland Clinic)
- In adults they’re less common than in children and usually point to something else - stress, anxiety, PTSD, or an underlying sleep disorder
- Sleep deprivation and stress are common, identifiable triggers, not random occurrences
- Frequent episodes, injury, or signs of another sleep condition are reasons to see a doctor, not something to just live with
On this page
- Night terrors vs nightmares
- Night terrors in adults
- Stress and sleep
- Reducing the episodes
- When to seek medical help
- Frequently asked questions
- About the author
Night terrors vs nightmares
The two get confused constantly, but they happen in different parts of sleep and look nothing alike from the outside.
Night terrors are episodes where the brain is partially asleep and partially awake, during deep non-REM sleep. The person may sit up or jump out of bed, cry, scream, and start sweating, and the episode typically lasts somewhere between one and thirty minutes (Cleveland Clinic). Afterwards, there’s usually no memory of it at all.
Nightmares, by contrast, happen during REM sleep - the dreaming stage. You wake up fully, and you remember the dream, sometimes in vivid detail, sometimes for days.
| Night terrors | Nightmares | |
|---|---|---|
| Sleep stage | Non-REM (deep sleep) | REM |
| Memory | None | Full recall |
| Physical response | Thrashing, screaming, sweating | Emotional fear response on waking |
| Wakefulness | Partially awake, returns to sleep | Wakes up completely |
That memory difference is the single most useful thing to know if you’re trying to work out which one you’re dealing with. If you woke up and remember what happened, however disturbing, that’s a nightmare. If someone else describes what you did and you have no memory of it, that’s the signature of a night terror.
Night terrors in adults
Most information about this assumes a child having an episode their parents will describe the next morning. Adults get them too, and it’s worth knowing this isn’t the same situation.
Night terrors in adults are less common than in children. When they do happen, they usually point to an underlying mental health condition - post-traumatic stress disorder or an anxiety disorder are common ones - rather than being an isolated quirk of sleep (Cleveland Clinic). That doesn’t mean every adult episode signals something serious - but it’s a different situation from a child outgrowing a developmental phase, and worth paying attention to rather than dismissing.
Stress and sleep
Two of the most identifiable triggers for adult-onset night terrors are stress and sleep deprivation (Cleveland Clinic).
The mechanism is straightforward once you see it. When sleep has been disrupted or cut short, the brain tends to plunge into deep non-REM sleep more abruptly and intensely once it finally gets the chance - and that deep-sleep stage is exactly where night terrors originate. Stress adds to this by keeping the nervous system activated even as the body tries to settle into sleep.
None of this means you did something wrong to trigger an episode. It means there’s usually a traceable reason behind it, which also means there’s usually something concrete to work with - improving sleep consistency, addressing the source of stress, or both.
Reducing the episodes
Because adult night terrors usually trace back to something identifiable, the practical steps target those triggers rather than the episode itself. The Cleveland Clinic’s guidance is straightforward: keep a regular sleep schedule and get an age-appropriate amount of sleep, avoid alcohol or caffeine before bed, and address common triggers such as sleep deprivation, obstructive sleep apnoea, or a fever, since treating those can reduce how often episodes happen (Cleveland Clinic). Reducing stress helps for the same reason it shows up as a trigger, and that can include talking to a mental health professional. Medication is not recommended as a treatment. It’s also worth moving nightstands or anything hazardous away from the bed, so the thrashing that can happen during an episode doesn’t cause injury.
If what you’re actually dealing with is recurrent nightmares rather than night terrors - you wake fully and remember the dream - the approach is different. The best-supported option is imagery rehearsal therapy, a form of CBT in which you rewrite the recurring nightmare while awake, changing the storyline to a less distressing one, and mentally rehearse the new version. Standard sleep hygiene helps too: consistent sleep and wake times, a wind-down routine, and avoiding screens, caffeine, and alcohol close to bed. Because nightmares often occur alongside anxiety, depression, or PTSD, treating those conditions can reduce how often they happen (Sleep Foundation).
When to seek medical help
Most occasional night terrors don’t need medical intervention. It’s worth seeing a doctor when episodes happen frequently (multiple times a week), or cause injury or noticeably poor sleep quality. The same applies if they come with signs suggesting another condition - loud snoring or excessive daytime sleepiness, which can point toward sleep apnoea rather than a standalone parasomnia (Cleveland Clinic).
If you want to understand how this kind of support works in practice, before deciding anything, see how the process works.
Frequently asked questions
Are night terrors dangerous?
Usually not dangerous in themselves, but the thrashing and sitting up or jumping out of bed that can happen during an episode carries a real injury risk - to the person having it and sometimes to whoever’s nearby. Worth taking sensible precautions (clearing anything hazardous near the bed) rather than treating the episode itself as an emergency.
Why don’t I remember it happening?
Because it happens during deep non-REM sleep, not during dreaming (REM) sleep. The brain simply isn’t in the state where memories of the episode get formed and stored the way a dream would be. That’s not a memory problem - it’s a normal feature of which sleep stage the episode occurs in.
Can adults get night terrors, or is this just a childhood thing?
Adults can get them too. It’s less common than in children, and when it happens in adults it’s more often connected to something identifiable - stress, anxiety, PTSD, or a sleep disorder - rather than being a phase that resolves on its own.
What should I do if I witness someone having one?
Don’t try to wake them abruptly - it rarely helps and can prolong the confusion. Keep the immediate area safe in case of thrashing or sudden movement, and let the episode run its course; most people settle and return to sleep on their own within a few minutes.
About the author
Fabio Morus is a behavioural therapist and hypnotherapist in Jersey, Channel Islands, focusing on anxiety, phobias, and panic disorder. He trained in Neuro-Systemic Hypnotherapy (Instituto Brasileiro de Hipnosis), CBT (Beck Institute), and EMDR (EMDR Association UK), and holds a Master’s in Addiction Studies. He sees clients online in Portuguese and English, and in person in Jersey. See the full training on the About page.
This content is informational and does not substitute clinical assessment, diagnosis, or professional treatment. If you are in intense distress or having thoughts of harming yourself, contact an emergency service or, in the UK, call Samaritans on 116 123 (free, 24 hours). In Jersey, the crisis line is +44 (0)1534 445290. If you are elsewhere, contact your local emergency services.