What Makes You Scream at Night?

I’m sure many of you can recall a night from your childhood when you awoke to a bloodcurdling scream (your own) with a feeling of fear or panic. A simple nightmare. We’ve all experienced them as kids, but as we grow older they become less frequent. But what about Night Terrors… as an adult?

In case you were wondering, night terrors are an uncommonly vivid nightmare where you not only scream, you actually jump out of bed and try to escape through a window or door. There can be physical danger involved for the sleeper and anyone in close proximity. Night terrors affect as many as 6.5 percent of all children and are considered normal until around age 6. They are far less common in adults, about 2 percent of the population. I learned that statistic after experiencing an intense night terror, which left me with a sore throat (from screaming) and a very upset husband. Nothing more frightening than waking to a screeching wife as she tries to run away.

My normal ‘scream and run’ nightmare reaction is evoked by spiders. I jump out of bed screaming and scrambling for the light switch. My husband’s usual response is, “It’s okay.” My answer, “No, it’s not.” According to him, our conversation goes back and forth for a couple minutes before I finally turn off the light and return to bed.

Most mornings I have no recollection of my movements, but may recall a portion of the dream. This is such a frequent occurrence that I researched the meaning of spiders in dreams. The results were rather interesting. On the upside, spiders are a symbol of creativity (hello writer), but they are also an indication of a feeling of being entangled or trapped. Then again, the spider dream could refer to a powerful force protecting you against a self-destructive behavior. Or, in my personal opinion, it’s because spiders have massive creep factor. Who wouldn’t jump out of bed if they saw thousands of spiders emerging from under their pillow? Last night’s incident, however, had nothing to do with the usual creepy crawlies. Not sure what I saw emerge next to the bed, but whatever it was, it was bad and I had to get away.

So, who out there has had a night terror? And do you still have them as an adult?