How timely as a co-worker was just describing her night terrors to me. I have described my own struggles with PTSD and the nightmares I have but her own experiences have caused me to question if I really can call them that.

She, it turns out, acts out upon her terrors - often violently. She and her husband must sleep in separate rooms as she has in the past attacked him and hurt him. She also said she has problems sleep walking. It is to such an extent that her husband has put bells on all the doors so as to wake him in order to allow him to respond. The fear she will hurt herself is very real. And yes, it sounds like there has been trauma in her past, she has not detailed it.

Anyway, I enquired about a cpap machine and she pointed out this has nothing to do with sleep apnea. They have checked when they hospitalised her for a week to observe her sleeping and concurrent behaviour.

So, my response then to you is to encourage your boyfriend to seek medical intervention. My friend is on medication which while it doesn't stop these events from happening, lessen the impact significantly.