In July 1977 there was the first case in the US of a strange phenomenon that has been puzzling the medical community ever since. Hmong men between the ages of 25 and 55, from Laos, began dying in their sleep. They were apparently healthy adults, with no diagnosed illnesses that could cause their sudden death in the middle of the night. Doctors called it SUNDS, “Sudden Unexpected Nocturnal Death Syndrome”: Unexpected Nocturnal Death Syndrome.
This fact set in motion the feverish imagination of horror magician Wes Craven , and he wrote the script for what would be the first chapter in a long saga of teenage horror movies: A Nightmare on Elm Street . The first film, from 1984, is one of the great titles of this film genre. It was praised by audiences and critics alike and saved the production company, New Line Cinema, from bankruptcy. At that time it was about to disappear and the scarce investment forced to have little-known actors, which allowed a then unknown Johnny Depp to make his debut in the world of celluloid. The real celebrity in the film was Robert Englund thanks to his role as a good-natured lizard in the V series. Today there is no one who does not know his face, yes, with a certain amount of makeup to simulate his burned skin and his famous knife glove with which to tear his young victims to pieces. Who has never dreamed that Freddy Krueger comes to visit him in his dreams? By the way, his name is that of the bully who bothered Wes Craven when he was a student.
The Hmong ethnic group is not alone in suffering from sudden nocturnal death syndrome. In Singapore, a retrospective study showed that 230 completely healthy Thai men died suddenly of unexplained causes between 1982 and 1990. And numerous similar cases have also been detected in the Philippines. The majority in men and with a mean age of 33 years. In all cases, it has been detected that in their religious and ancestral beliefs the figures of demons or spirits appear, which are the ones that visit them in dreams and can take their lives. All of them suffer strong nightmares in which they are totally paralyzed and these entities oppress their chest to prevent them from breathing. This phenomenon is called dabt tso (pronounced “da cho”) by the Hmong people of Laos, and deaths are attributed to the evil spirit dab tsuam . In the Philippines, it is the batibat witch who causes the bangungut , translated as “getting up and moaning in your sleep”. And in Thailand it is called Lai tai , which means “sleep and die”.
Night terror or nightmare?
Whoever thinks that we are talking about those known as night terrors , make no mistake. Nightmares and terrors have nothing to do with it. Both occur in different phases of sleep and while nightmares are usually remembered, the night terror episode is usually completely lost from memory when the subject wakes up . In addition, the nightmare occurs during the REM phase of sleep and terror, like sleepwalking, are alterations of awakening.
Night terrors can begin between the ages of 3 and 12 and usually dissipate during adolescence. Among adults, it occurs most often between the ages of 20 and 30. The sufferer sits up in bed, screams and struggles. If someone tries to wake him up, he can fight back when he feels attacked . Different medical studies have observed that during these episodes those who suffer from it have very high voltages of electroencephalography and delta activity, in addition to an increase in muscle tone and an increase of double or more in heart rate, which can cause tachycardia.
Nightmares have their origin in physical or physiological causes : fever, stress… According to a study carried out in 2015 by researchers from the University of Turku and the Finnish National Institute of Health and Welfare, insomnia and depression are two factors that They make us have nightmares more often . The data obtained indicates that 30% of people who suffer from depression and 17% of those who suffer from insomnia have recurring nightmares. For these researchers, suffering from nightmares could help diagnose depressive disorders early and efficiently.
References:
Sandman, N. et al (2015) Nightmares: Risk Factors Among the Finnish General Adult Population. SLEEP, 2015; doi:10.5665/sleep.4560
Yuan, D. y Raju, H. (2019). “Spotlight on sudden arrhythmic death syndrome”. Research Reports in Clinical Cardiology. 10: 57–66. doi:10.2147/RRCC.S187480
