How is a Night Terror different from a Nightmare?
Night terror and nightmares are not one and the same. Occurring during the dream state of REM sleep, nightmares are scary dreams of the worst order causing the victim to completely lose sleep. Further the victim has a complete memory of the episode. Night terrors, on the contrary typically strike in the deep Non REM sleep phase, generally within an hour or two of going to sleep. The victim does not awaken during the event which may stretch anywhere from a few minutes to an hour. Further, the child will not be able to recall the event in the waking hours.
