Parasomnia is a term that refers to any abnormal occurrence that happens while a person is falling asleep, sleeping, or waking up (Parasomnias, 2014). This omits sleep apnea (Schneck). This can cause a person to have a hard time sleeping at night (Parasomnias, 2014). Examples of some parasomnias are sleepwalking, teeth grinding, REM sleep behavior disorder, and nightmares (Schneck). Some parasomnias are common among children, but few are rare such as Exploding Head Syndrome. Parasomnias may seem complex in behavior and movement, but the person with the parasomnia remains asleep and often has no memory of the events, which occurred (Parasomnias, 2014). Sleep occurs in different categories and stages. The two categories are REM (Rapid Eye Movement)…show more content… The paralysis that usually takes place during REM sleep is incomplete, which allows the person to act out a dream or nightmare by thrashing around, talking, yelling, sitting up, grabbing, etc. It most often affects men (Lava, 2013). A nightmare is another REM parasomnia categorized by strong feelings of terror and extreme anxiety. Most nightmares are a sign of stress, but can be a disorder if they frequently occur and impair life. Nightmares are also closesly related to trauma or serious anxiety (Nightmares, 2015). Hypnagogic refers to any hallucination that occurs while you are about to fall asleep. Hypnopompic refers to any hallucination where you are waking up from sleep and still in a daze. Sleep hallucination can cause images of events that seem realistic through a visual perspective. This can also sometimes be through touch or sound (Sleep Hallucinations, 2014). Sleep starts, a type of Sleep-Wake Transition disorder, may also have to do with hypnagogic states. They are common jerks that occur while a person is just falling asleep. They happen by brief contractions of muscles in parts of the body that last shorter than a second in time. They mainly involve lower parts of the body but can occur in the head or arms. Most sleep starts have to do with movement, but they can occur visually or audibly (Carney & Berry,