often outgrow it without requiring extensive treatment or therapy. In adulthood, it is normal for nightmares to occur from time to time. However, if such nightmares become frequent and severe in the life of the individual, most psychiatrists would agree that psychopathology is indicated (Evans, 1983, p. 671). In adulthood, "it appears that severe nightmares serve as an emotional release for individuals who harbor resentment and fear hostility from significant others" (Vela-Bueno, Soldatos, & Julius, 1987, p. 467). Dream anxiety disorder in adults generally requires psychiatric treatment in order for it to be effectively overcome.
Although both relate to the occurrence of repeated nightmares, it can be seen that dream anxiety disorder is different in many ways from the parasomnia behavior known as sleep terror disorder. In sleep terror, the patient often wakes up screaming or in a state of panic. With sleep terror, the patient usually does not remember the nightmare, but "sometimes remembers feeling crushed or suffocated" (Hartmann, 1984, p. 11). Sleep terror disorder usually occurs at an earlier period of sleep and patients awakening as a result
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