Night comes, all the lights go out and you are dying of panic. The fear of the dark takes over you and you don’t know how to control it. This type of fear is very common in childhood; however, not treating it correctly and on time can end up leading to a phobia.
Is it your case? we tell you what the causes that cause fear of the dark are and what solutions you can put into practice to end it. Very attentive!
Uncontrollable fear of the dark or nyctophobia: what is it?
Extreme fear of the dark is called nyctophobia, although it is also known by other terms such as scotophobia, chlorophobia, or dinophobia. It is an excessive fear that causes symptoms such as excessive anxiety or irrational panic before the phobic stimulus. The subject who suffers from it tries to avoid contexts or situations in which there is darkness at all costs and may even experience discomfort just by imagining a dark place.
Although this is a phobia that is traditionally linked to children, mainly due to the images that can be seen in movies (ghosts or monsters often appear in fantasy stories at night), it also has a high incidence in adults, being one of the most common fears in society. It is essential to treat it in time so that it does not end up leading to a much more severe problem.
Nyctophobia can interfere significantly in the life of the person who suffers from it. Every day it gets dark and, as a consequence, every day the darkness makes its stellar appearance. For this reason, fear, discomfort and anxiety manifest themselves over and over again. Those affected may even refuse to leave the house at night and are not even able to sleep alone whatever their age.
Causes of fear of the dark or nyctophobia
The feeling of panic that invades the person who suffers from nyctophobia when the light disappears is not really due to the absence of light itself, but rather to the fantasies and images that the person creates in his head in which he is totally convinced of that in the dark there are a lot of hidden dangers. This reaction is largely due to irrational beliefs fueled precisely by those fantasy stories that often appear in books and/or movies.
However, there is no scientifically proven theory about the origin of this specific phobia. As in most anxiety disorders, the possible genetic predisposition which transforms the person into someone much more susceptible to the negative effects of stress, together with the experience of a traumatic experience linked to the dark, can end up causing a phobia like this
Another series of factors such as personality, cognitive styles or vicarious learning also intervene, which can facilitate the appearance and development of excessive and irrational fear of different stimuli, among which darkness can be placed.
Symptoms of nyctophobia
The main symptom that characterizes the fear of the dark, as well as the rest of the specific phobias, is the high level of anxiety, which is always accompanied by a high degree of stress. As usual, not all people experience exactly the same pattern of symptoms or do so with the same intensity each time they are in a context without light. However, a classification can be made of them divided as follows:
Physical symptoms
Normally, every time someone faces an excessive fear, they present a series of changes and alterations in the organism. These variations are caused by hyperactivity of the peripheral nervous system. The most common physical symptoms of nyctophobia are the following:
- Acceleration of heart rate.
- Increased respiratory rate.
- Choking sensation.
- Muscle tension.
- Sweat and dizziness.
- Headache and stomachache.
- Nausea and/or vomiting.
- Fainting or fainting.
Cognitive symptoms
In fear of the dark, the physical symptoms are always accompanied by a series of distorted and irrational beliefs about the feared situation. In this specific case, the person is invaded by intrusive and constant thoughts related to all the dangers that can appear when it is dark. Usually these thoughts tend to be very negative and cannot be controlled.
Behavioral symptoms
The fear of the dark can become so extreme that it can even end up interfering in the behavior patterns of the person who suffers from it, causing them to change their way of acting on a day-to-day basis. This causes two types of response: avoidance behaviors and escape behaviors.
Avoidance behaviors are those actions that the person with nyctophobia performs in order to get rid of the situation that causes them fear (for example, keeping the lights in the room on all night).
On the other hand, escape behaviors are those that are carried out when you are about to face the feared context (for example, running out of the house when the power goes out).
Is there a treatment for fear of the dark?
Can nyctophobia be cured? The answer is yes. There are effective treatments that are capable of eliminating the fear of the dark, making the person lead a totally normal rhythm and lifestyle.
In the specific case of this phobia, the most appropriate type of intervention and with the highest degree of success is cognitive-behavioral therapy, which consists of gradual exposure to the phobic stimulus (in this case, darkness). The patient, with the help of a professional, gradually confronts his fear until he manages to completely control it.
This therapy is always accompanied by relaxation techniques which help reduce physical symptoms.
Tips to overcome the fear of the dark
There are several strategies that you can put into practice to control and end your fear of the dark. Take note:
- Turn off the light little by little: start to reduce the light gradually at bedtime. By doing it gradually, over several days, it will be much easier for you to get used to the dark.
- Find a relaxing moment during the day to be in the dark: go into your room, lower the blind, put on relaxing music and try to think of something positive. The advantage of this formula is that you can control the time you spend in the dark yourself. In fact, you can gradually increase that time as you feel more comfortable and confident.
- Challenge your fears: your fear is not really the dark, but the thoughts that this stimulus generates in your head. Detect what those negative thoughts are and face them. Only you can take control of your mind.
- Modify your concept of darkness: as you control your thoughts and become more relaxed in contexts without light, little by little you will be able to modify your concept of darkness and transform it into something beneficial for you. Darkness will stop being something negative to become an opportunity to rest and relax.