Nobody - fear of darkness, reasons, reviews: who is afraid of darkness? Effective methods, ways to overcome the fear of darkness in children and adults, tips

In this article you will learn what the fear of darkness is, why it arises, how to deal with this fear for children and adults.

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Fear of darkness: no one who can experience the fear of darkness?

Many in childhood, and not only in childhood, fall asleep, covered with a blanket to the ends of the hair. At the same time, they are even afraid to move or stick out at least one finger from under the blanket. They think that as soon as they do it, they will be bite off a monster, only expecting you to move.

Or, for example, they are afraid to get out of bed and go along the dark corridor to the toilet. Such people will be better to endure until the morning, but in no case will stand up. Or they listen to each rustle, the slightest extraneous sound draws in their imagination of thieves who inaudibly made into their home.

If you recognize yourself in these descriptions, you have a fear of darkness.

Important: this fear even has a name - nobody. In fact, the fear of darkness is a very common phobia.

According to statistics, 8 out of 10 children experience fear of darkness. Over time, many children have fear, but some cannot part with their phobias.

It is a shame for adults to admit that as soon as the light turns off, their heart begins to pound a lot, the heat rushes, and the limbs seem to cling.

If a small child can tell his parents without shame that he is scared, then the adult will never admit this. After all, many will just begin to laugh from this "children's", "stupid" fear.

Needless to talk about how much this fear spoils life. Every night, no one, going to bed, thinks about one thing: "Would survive until the morning." Such people will never go to bed without checking the serviceability of the outlets, whether the doors are locked on two locks, they will not open the windows, even if there is 40 ° on the street.

Nobody suffer from insomnia, fear prevents them from falling asleep. Sleep occurs only when the body simply turns off. In the morning, these people, like a squeezed lemon.

Psychologists believe that children who have a strong fear of darkness are worse than their peers at school, suffer from insomnia and rarely become leaders.

With fear of darkness, you need to fight, and in order to successfully cope with your phobia, you need to learn about its causes.

Video: Effective methods of combating the fear of darkness

Fear of darkness: reasons

Everyone knows the reason for his fear. Even a child can explain what exactly scares him. But sometimes people do not want to delve into the causes of their fears, as this causes them discomfort.

It is important to understand that without analysis it will not be possible to eliminate fears.

These are the most common reasons for the fear of darkness:

Developed imagination. A newborn child is not afraid of darkness, but when he grows up, his imagination begins to develop. When the light is turned off, the curtain on the window already seems to be a monster pulling its terrible paws to it. Indoor flowers seem to be a whole crowd of some monsters. Imagination draws the most terrible pictures in the children's brain. The children's imagination are fed by cartoons about monsters and monsters, an inadvertently abandoned phrase about a woman or “a top that will certainly bite the barrel as soon as the child tries to sleep on his side.”
Psychological trauma of the past. If in childhood the child was faced with painful experiences and the injury was not worked out with the help of the soft participation of his parents, then in adulthood he can be haunted by children's injury. For example, a dog jumped out and bit out of the darkness, parents left one in a dark room as a punishment, the child woke up and frightened a sharp sound. It may be that the child witnessed the clarification of the relationship between his parents or to hear the scandal, or the loud sounds of the neighbors.
A feeling of loneliness. With the onset of darkness, when a person is left completely alone, he can feel unprotected, abandoned by everyone. This feeling can form fear that something can happen, and no one will come to the rescue.
Unknown, unknown. In the dark, eyes see poorly, so the imagination of a person draws up what he cannot see with his own eyes. Nobody is lost in conjectures that can happen in the next instant. Such a fantasy is reinforced by the stories of experienced about what they saw in their bedroom "something so terrible."
Constant stress. Modern society is very subject to daily stresses that flow into chronic depression. It is not surprising that such a mood can pull numerous fears, including fear of darkness.
Fear of death. This fear is the root cause of the fear of darkness. Non -existence is usually associated with darkness, darkness, so the fear of darkness is a consequence of a person’s fear of death. Having dealt with the fear of death, you can overcome the fear of darkness in this case.
Inal meals, lack of vitamins. This reason seems strange, but this is a long -proven fact. Eating fatty foods at night can cause insomnia, nightmares and fear of darkness. An unbalanced nutrition, a deficiency of vitamins can lead to the exit of an emotional state from the norm.

If the child cannot explain the reason for his fear, invite him to draw his night fear. Perhaps on a sheet of paper, the child will be able to portray what he cannot explain in words.

When the reason for the fear of darkness is known, it is necessary to get rid of it.

How to overcome the fear of darkness in children: methods, tips

Adults should help the child to get rid of the fear of darkness. Parents should not dismiss and perceive children's fear as something frivolous. For a child, this is really scary to him. If you do not work out child fear, then the child will carry it with him in adulthood. You do not want your child to feel discomfort, and his life overshadow the fear of darkness?

Ways to cope with the fear of darkness in children:

The easiest way - put a nightlight. Choose with the child the nightlight that he will like. Do not turn off the nightlight as soon as the child falls asleep. After all, at night the baby can wake up and fears will again pester him.
Talk to a child about his fears. Ask the child to explain what scares him. In turn, explain why his fears will not come true. For example, tell us that monsters do not exist, that they are just fiction. If the child is afraid that someone will hide in his room, explain that no one can ever climb into your apartment or house. Before going to bed, check the place that the child is most afraid of.
Promise always protect. Calm the child, say that mom and dad always guard his sleep, even at night. And no one can ever get unnoticed by mom and dad to harm the child.
Draw fear and destroy it. Ask the child to draw what he is afraid of at night. Then, together, burn the pattern or tear it into small pieces.
Let the child fall asleep with his favorite toy. Explain to the child that he will be able to snuggle up to the toy and not be afraid of anything. It is advisable to choose a soft toy.
Relaxing music. When the child does not see in the dark, he begins to listen to each sound. He will certainly hear some rustles, creaks, etc. Before going to bed, you can turn on quiet music for relaxation so that outsiders do not interfere with the child. In this case, you need to ensure that after falling asleep the child does not disturb at night.
Create comfort in the children's room. A cozy room that the child likes can help him cope with fears. For example, you can make it a magical country, while explaining that monsters and monsters do not live in this country. On the ceiling you can stick luminous stars and the moon that will lightly illuminate the room.
Accustom the child to active daily routine. If the child will play sports throughout the day, walk in the fresh air, it is interesting to spend time, then in the evening he will quickly fall asleep. At the same time, it is important not to overdo it with the load, otherwise the overexcitation of the nervous system may occur.
Watch good cartoons. With the advent of the Internet and personal gadgets in children, they have the opportunity to watch any cartoons, including not always kind and useful. Parents must definitely monitor what information their child receives. It is advisable to watch cartoons cognitive, with positive heroes.
Before going to bed, caress the child, read the fairy tale. Make yourself a mandatory ritual, to calm the child before going to bed, praise him, tell him kind words, hug, stroke on the head, make a slight massage, read a fairy tale. So the child will be able to normalize his emotional state and fall asleep calmly and peacefully.

Important: never ashamed the child due to the fact that he is afraid of darkness. Do not tell him that he is already so adult and should not be afraid. Such reproaches will lead to the fact that the child will close and simply stop talking about his fear of darkness, but fear will not go anywhere. Life in constant fear can lead to serious problems and even deeper fears.

How to overcome the fear of darkness in adults: methods, tips

Adults, unlike children, cannot always share their fear of darkness. But this does not cancel the fact that the phobia needs to be fought. You can independently cope with the fear of darkness or with the help of a psychologist, if the situation is running.

Here tips and methods that will help to overcome the fear of darkness to the adult:

Like children, adults should name the reason for their fear. Awareness weakens fear, and specific actions - remove it. For example, you are afraid of thieves - put a signaling system, good locks, grilles on the windows or get a dog. Afraid of monsters and unknown - admit to yourself that nothing secret exists. Those people who allegedly saw the brownie, just dreamers or the same boyus. If something that existed in your house, you would have seen it a long time ago. And, believe me, the monster would not wait for the moment until you fall asleep to pinch you by the finger.
Create comfortable sleeping conditions. Many neglect advice for comfortable sleep, and very vain. After all, they really work. Ventify the room before bedtime, oxygen significantly improves sleep. Go to bed until 23 hours, do not eat fatty food for the night, do not overeat, do not abuse alcohol, make sure that your legs are warm. Adhering to these simple rules, you will notice significant improvements.
Create the right mood. Do not overload yourself with a negative before bedtime, and not only before bedtime. Do not watch the reports of criminal chronicles, try to protect yourself from unpleasant news, do not watch horror films or TV shows associated with human experiences and grief. Forbid yourself to think and grind your grievances, experiences, stress at work and at home, promise yourself to think about it tomorrow. Instead, look at the comedy, read a book with a happy end, listen to relaxing music, talk to pleasant people. This method will help you go to the wonderful world of dreams quickly and without fears.
Relax not only the psyche, but also the body. Practice classes in the gym, a soothing bath for the whole body or for legs with aromatic aromas, self -massage of the feet, hands, neck. It is useful to engage in yoga. A long walk before going to bed can also help you. Before going to bed, drink a cup of herbal tea or a glass of milk.
Use deep breathing technique. If the fear is still stronger than you, try to breathe deeply as soon as the fear of darkness rolls too much. You feel that the body is numb with fear, start slowly and deeply breathe until you completely calm down. A nightlight will also help to cope with fear, but still a dream is considered more useful in complete darkness.
Convince yourself that you are stronger than fear. As soon as something terrible begins to imagine you, remind yourself that these are just your fantasies, that you have invented everything, in fact, nothing will happen. Some solved the problem of fear of darkness, looking into the eyes of their fear. For example, you are afraid of darkness, get up and spite your fear in a dark apartment. You will see, nothing terrible will happen to you. After that, you may cease to be afraid of darkness.

If one of your loved ones is afraid of darkness, support him, help to understand that fear is not in the dark, he is in his head.

Fear of darkness: reviews

Reviews about the fear of darkness:

Daria, 28 years old: “I have fear of darkness since childhood. I don’t remember exactly what it came from. But he is with me all my conscious life. If there is someone nearby nearby, but when I stay alone at home, just some kind of horror, panic. When she studied at the institute, she lived in a hostel, was not afraid, because there were many people nearby. This allowed me to feel protected. Now I am married, we live with my husband in a private house. When he goes to work, I just die of fear. Therefore, I decided to start a dog. Only she helps me fall asleep calmly and feel under protection. I try to drag the dog into the room and put to sleep with me. I am ready to sleep in an uncomfortable position, just to rest my feet on the dog! ”
Violetta, 32 years old: “I was always afraid of otherworldly. It seems to me that these fears come from childhood. As a child, I often heard horror stories from grandmothers who talked among themselves, but everything flew to my hearing. Then they often scared for improper behavior. And once a cat jumped on me in a dream that lived with us. Then it was very scary. I remember how I hid under the blanket and was afraid to even breathe then. Fear of darkness followed me in adulthood. But I understood that it was necessary to deal with this somehow, otherwise the psyche could suffer. Since the reason for my fear is the other world, I began to watch programs about psychics, about unknown, about ghosts and magicians. Then I realized that this is all - just a show that none of this exists, and we are simply intimidated by the other world. I realized that for so many years of my life, I would have encountered something if it existed. But that did not happen. After that, I became much calmer. ”
Eugene, 40 years: “As a child, I was also very afraid of darkness. But I found a method to fight my fear. First, this is a fear of putting on a specific image (monster, monsters, vampire, etc.). Then, with an imaginary enemy, mentally we must fight and win. After several sessions, fear passed. As soon as fear begins to appear - take the weapon and fight with it. And before that, too, he could not sleep calmly, his heart was pounding and was afraid to die. It was a shame to tell the parents about this. ”

Fear of darkness goes into childhood with its roots. Be sure to deal with this fear so that it does not grow into problems, where big than just a fear of falling asleep. If your child or you are afraid of darkness, try the methods described above. Tell us in the comments what helped you overcome the fear of darkness.