A sleep disorder that is basically a night mere that is not remembered; or extreme terror and a temporary inability to regain full consciousness. The subject wakes abruptly from slow-wave sleep, with waking usually accompanied by gasping, moaning, or screaming. It is often impossible to awaken the person fully, and after the episode the subject normally settles back to sleep without waking. A night terror can rarely be recalled by the subject

Night terrors are more prominent in children between the ages of 2 to 6. These occur in about 15 percent of all children; however a person of any age can have night terrors. There is strong evidence that night terrors are passed down genetically.

Emotional stress during the previous day and a high fever are thought to bring about most episodes, while other factors like the right amount of sleep, stress and constipation and other irregular bowel movements or lack thereof also seem to bring on night terrors.

Night terrors usually occur in the first hour of sleep, They usually only last for a few short minutes however; they have been known to last up to three hours in rare cases Then the child will relax and return to a normal sleep.