By Jayaditya Gupta
I am absolutely horrified of darkness. Most people are oblivious to this non-fictitious fear, including my parents. Being a teenager, most people often attribute it to childish rhetoric, but the “ghosts” and “spooks” one is afraid of, may exist - for them!
According to John Hopkin’s Medicine, a phobia is an uncontrollable, irrational, and lasting fear of a certain object, situation, or activity. Nyctophobia is one such phobia, where someone fears being alone in the dark. It owes its origins to the Greek word Νύχτα, meaning night.
Nyctophobia is characterised by a severe fear of the night. It arises from the brains distorted visualisations of what could possibly happen in the future, in a nocturnal setting. It may also result due to psychological unease caused by recent events, exposure to worrying content or associations with disturbing events from the past. Due to their diurnal (non-nocturnal) nature, the darkness of the night presents a starkly different environment triggering an increased vigilance. This produces symptoms apart from the typical behaviours guided by our instincts, including breathlessness, excessive sweating, nausea, dry mouth, feeling sick, shaking, heart palpitations, impaired cognitive actions or a sensation of detachment from reality and death.
Although not clinically recognised, when the fear of the dark reaches a degree where it is considered pathological, it is called scotophobia. This is related to a fear of dark spaces in general. A person suffering from scotophobia may fear tunnels, forests, basements, dark streets etc.
Lost within the darkness…
A Psychological Association
A fear of the dark is generally caused due to past events or negative experiences more commonly happening in the night. For example, you would most expect a robbery or a murder to happen in the night, because that is the time when most of us are vulnerable! And some minds associate these experiences with the dark or the night time, resulting in the fear of the dark. Thus, nyctophobia can also develop as a part of PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder).
Statistics
Not surprisingly, this is a very common fear among children. Some degree of fear is very natural, especially in the developing stages. Sigmund Freud regarded fear of the dark as a manifestation of separation anxiety disorder. Around 45% of children have an unusually strong fear of some kind, and the fear of the dark is the most common fears among kids between 6 and 12 years of age. For around 32% of the population, the dark makes them uneasy.
More astonishingly, the fear of dark is present in many adults, to a varying degree. According to John Mayer, around 11% of the U.S. population is afraid of the dark, making this “very common” among adults, and even more common than the fear of heights! So, the next time you see an adult trembling with fear and clattering teeth, even to go to the adjacent room, consider it absolutely normal.
Infact, Nyctophobia is not confined entirely to humans! Even cats prefer to sleep with their owners at night, because they are most vulnerable to predators and other dangers at night.
A Cultural Influence
A variety of cultural backgrounds may also influence the perception of fear. Cultural beliefs, superstitions and folklore specific to a culture may result in a different depiction and understanding of fear among individuals.
Symptoms and Therapies
People suffering from nyctophobia may have trouble sleeping, frequent panic attacks and may even cause reluctance to leave their home, and may even feel ill even at the thought of having to spend time in the dark. Thus, it causes insomnia, which in turn causes fatigue. It may result in one “imagining” the existence of virtual creatures, like ghosts and how such apparitions might attack them, or resistance to go from one place to another.
Of course, remedies do exist for Nyctophobia. This includes cognitive behavioural therapy to alter one’s reflexes to the fear of darkness, exposure theory, where gradual exposure to the fear desensitizes individuals and psychotherapy, aimed at aiding individuals in talking about, understanding and managing their fears. Apart from this, techniques like yoga, meditation and breathing exercises help control anxiety when confronted with darkness.
Conclusion
Thus, Nyctophobia is a very serious and usual issue, which haunts several individuals, especially during the night. While this may appear as a preoccupation with behaviours from the past, it truly affects many. But, in the darkness of fear, light shines as guidance. Let us illuminate the path to attaining freedom from the grip of nyctophobia!
Sources:
Anonymous. (n.d.). Fear of the dark. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fear_of_the_dark
Miller, K. (2017, February 15). It’s not just you: Lots of adults are afraid of the dark. Glamour. https://www.glamour.com/story/its-not-just-you-lots-of-adults-are-afraid-of-the-dark#:~:text=According%20to%20clinical%20psychologist%20John,than%20a%20fear%20of%20heights
professional, C. C. medical. (2022, March 28). Nyctophobia (fear of the dark): Symptoms & causes. Cleveland Clinic. https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/22785-nyctophobia-fear-of-the-dark#symptoms-and-causes
Foy, K. (2017). Woman walking into dark open doorway. hellogiggles.com. Dotdash Meredith Beauty & Style Group. Retrieved from https://hellogiggles.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/7/2017/09/27/woman-walking-into-dark-open-doorway-2000.jpg?quality=82&strip=1&resize=800%2C450.