The Dark Is Your Friend

Darkness and Sleeping

Who’s afraid of the dark? Things that go bump in the night, shifting shadows, unknown predators, and the boogieman all live in the dark. We often think of a fear of the dark as being a childhood fear. Some children carry this fear into adulthood.

How many people keep this fear their entire lives? As with most phobias, the information on nyctophobia is rare. There is very little data available on nyctophobia which is, confusingly, also sometimes called scotophobia, achluophobia, lygophobia, or even myctophobia (!). Nyctophobia is the most common term for this fear. It comes from “nyx” , a Greek word for night, and “phobos”, a Greek word for fear. I was unable to locate any demographic information on it except that it is considered pervasive.

There have been no etiological studies on nyctophobia also, but with this being a phobia that kind of makes sense. There’s usually no single cause for a phobia. A study that would look for causation wouldn’t necessarily be all that helpful.

Phobias are personal. The reason one develops a phobia is personal. The way a person copes with a phobia is personal and the way a person overcomes a phobia is personal. Everything about these types of fears is very individualistic.

A phobia is different from a regular fear. Fear is an emotional warning signal just like pain is a physical warning signal. It’s our mind’s way of warning us that something is amiss and we should heed caution. Evolution, thankfully, gave us this trait.

We often think of evolution as giving us opposable thumbs or removing prehensile tails. Evolution also gave us personality types and traits. As fledgling nomadic groups, we needed two types of people. We needed the adventurous people who were brave (or stupid) enough to eat the first berries and fruits. These adventurous types were also the ones who went exploring, experienced the first snakebites, and died of ingested toxins. The second type was the cautious type. These are the people who made sure we didn’t die off as species because we kept eating nightshades. Tomatoes are yummy, but only the red parts!

A phobia develops when someone is overly-cautious or when this evolutionary protection mechanism goes haywire. Haywire is a seriously technical medical term. It comes for the ancient Latin word “heytus” meaning “just” and the ancient Greek word “wireos” meaning “go with it”. When a rational air of caution escalates into an irrational fear that interrupts a person’s life, then it’s considered a phobia. Phobias are treated on an individual level. There’s no one cure for a phobia. Sometimes people need anti-anxiety medication especially when the worry over the anxiety becomes a big part of the problem. Most of the time, however, people will overcome a phobia through behavior modification.

Fear Of The Dark

Sometimes people do not feel the need to go through treatment for their phobia. A simple nightlight is enough to help them get through the night. Perhaps they keep flashlights tucked away in every room and their car. People will come up with all sorts of creative ways to live with and cope with a phobia. That’s not a coincidence.

Worry, anxiety, and fear are problems of the creative. Creative people write things that do not exist, paint things that are not there, and create something that never was. They’re the people who see the need for something before other people. (Random example: creating a website for an online alarm clock ) These same creative juices feed worry, anxiety, and fear.

Worry, anxiety, and fear are all “what if” scenarios. What if the cat doesn’t really have mild cold? What if the P&O statements from the current quarter or worse than the previous quarter? What if that bump in the dark wasn’t just the house settling? What if there’s something or someone right behind me and I just can’t see it because of the dark? What if I don’t get this blog post turned in on time? It takes a lot of creative energy to imagine the worst or best “what if” scenarios.

Fear

Most phobias are rooted in one overarching fear and that’s the fear of the unknown. The fear of the dark is no exception. People are afraid of what they don’t see.

If a phobia has a negative impact on your life, seek the help of a trained psychotherapist. There are a lot of ways of overcoming irrational fears.

Several people have told us that they feel strangely comforted at night, seeing the dim glow of their computer or laptop displaying our clocks in their bedrooms.

If you’re afraid of the dark, please try using us.

Until next time, we’ll keep a light on for you.

Tags: afraid of the dark, alarm clock blog, fear, fear of darkness, fear of the dark, nightlight, nyctophobia, phobia, phobias, Sleep, sleeping