I am getting very worried about the dreams I am having. I am actually physically running around the house. I dream that someone or something is going to attack me or try to lock me up in a room, so I need to escape fast before they lock the door.

These dreams have got progressively worse over the past year. I can remember suffering with it about ten years ago, when I literally ran down the stairs absolutely hysterical. It ended up with me ripping my gold wedding ring on our stair gates. It wasn’t until I woke up in the morning that my husband told me what had happened. I looked at my finger and it was bleeding with the gold ripped.

The other night, I dreamt that someone was trying to lock me in the bedroom, and there were loads of people all laughing as they locked me in. I ran to the door and started banging it really loudly so that someone would hear me and help me. I went out onto the landing where the light was on and I finally came around with my heart pounding again!

These dreams usually happen within the first hour of falling asleep. I have been to my general practicioner numerous times, who on the last occasion mentioned that if these do not stop in the next month he is considering sending me to a pyschiatrist! I was totally devastated about this, hence, I went on the Internet to see if there is anyone else with this abnormality.

Please let me know if you can help me with this matter. I have about three of these nightmares PER WEEK and it is putting me off going to bed. It’s driving me mad!

—Sarah, Age 30, Married, UK

Hi Sarah—

I’m glad you wrote in for help, before your G.P. sends you off to have your head examined! The good news is that you’re not really having nightmares at all (you don’t have any deep, repressed traumas lurking inside you)- and a solution for your problem is as easy as flicking a switch!

The information you provide lets us know that you are suffering from “confusional arousals” —also popularly known as night terrors. If we are awakened during deep sleep (by a noise outside our home or flat, or by our bedpartner turning over, for example) occasionally our brains get stuck between sleeping and waking. During this half-awake, half-asleep state, we can walk and talk in our sleep, and we can imagine intruders in our room or home, whom we fear are about to attack. The disorientation of the state causes us to panic, and then we can begin yelling for help, struggling to defend ourselves, or even running from our beds to escape the imaginary attacker. Despite our outward appearances, we still are soundly asleep!

As you have learned from your own experience, light is an effective aid for bringing us to full awakening during a partial arousal. Accordingly, the easiest solution for night terrors is to sleep with a night light on in your bedroom. Next time you experience an arousal from deep sleep, the soft light will allow you to see the room and to orient yourself. Instead of becoming confused, you will simply roll over and return to sleep.

If a night light doesn’t work immediately, try increasing the amount of light in your bedroom by using a full light placed in a corner. The trick is to prevent yourself from becoming disoriented during partial arousals from sleep. It’s as easy as flicking a switch! A simple solution for a very confusing—and frightening—sleep problem.