F51.4: Sleep terrors [night terrors]

While you are asleep you get frightened and panic and have physical reactions.

There are different reasons why we sleep. The reasons have not been fully understood. So far we know, for example, that sleep helps the body to recover. Sleep also develops the memory, and it brings feelings into equilibrium. Sleep has a particular sequence. There are deep sleep phases and lighter sleep phases. These phases alternate during sleep. The sleep-wake cycle is controlled by different influences such as messenger substances in the body. These messenger substances can be influenced by activity and light.

While you are asleep you have one or more events involving a lot of fear and panic. The person often wakes up after an event like this with a cry of panic. While sleeping, your body may also react with violent movements, a rapid heartbeat and an outbreak of sweating. After waking up you can remember little or nothing of what has happened. There is no physical reason for this.

Additional indicator

On medical documents, the ICD code is often appended by letters that indicate the diagnostic certainty or the affected side of the body.

  • G: Confirmed diagnosis
  • V: Tentative diagnosis
  • Z: Condition after
  • A: Excluded diagnosis
  • L: Left
  • R: Right
  • B: Both sides

Further information

Note

This information is not intended for self-diagnosis and does not replace professional medical advice from a doctor. If you find an ICD code on a personal medical document, please also note the additional indicator used for diagnostic confidence.
Your doctor will assist you with any health-related questions and explain the ICD diagnosis code to you in a direct consultation if necessary.

Source

Provided by the non-profit organization “Was hab’ ich?” gemeinnützige GmbH on behalf of the Federal Ministry of Health (BMG).