Three-year-old Adam lets out a piercing scream a few hours after he has fallen asleep. When his parents come to his room, Adam is sitting up in bed with his eyes open and in a state of panic, with a racing heart. Within 15 minutes, he has fallen back to sleep, and the next day he has no memory of the episode. Adam has experienced

Question

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Adam has experienced a sleep terror, which is a type of parasomnia that occurs during non-REM sleep. Sleep terrors are characterized by sudden arousal and a state of panic, often accompanied by screaming and physical symptoms such as racing heart and sweating. They usually occur in the first few hours of sleep and the person has no memory of the event the next day. REM rebound refers to an increase in the duration and intensity of REM sleep after a period of sleep deprivation. Anxiety nightmares and incubus nightmares are types of dreams with different characteristics than sleep terrors.

Three-Year-Old Adam Lets Out a Piercing Scream a Few Hours