Nyctophobia : Decoding the fear of darkness.

What is nyctophobia?

Nyctophobia is an extreme fear of night or darkness that can cause intense symptoms of anxiety and depression. A fear becomes a phobia when it’s excessive, irrational, or impacts your day-to-day life.

Being afraid of the dark often starts in childhood and is viewed as a normal part of development. Studies focused on this phobia have shown that humans often fear the dark for its lack of any visual stimuli. In other words, people may fear night and darkness because they cannot see what’s around them.

While some fear is normal, when it starts to impact daily life and sleep patterns, it may be time to visit your doctor.

Symptoms

Different phobias share similar symptoms. These signs may be either physical or emotional. With nyctophobia, symptoms may be triggered by being in the dark or even thinking about situations where you’d find yourself in the dark.

Physical symptoms include:

• trouble breathing
• racing heart rate
• chest tightness or pain
• shaking, trembling, or tingling sensations
• lightheadedness or dizziness
• upset stomach
• hot or cold flashes
• sweating

Emotional symptoms include:

• overwhelming feelings of anxiety or panic
• an intense need to escape the situation
• detachment from self or feeling “unreal”
• losing control or feeling crazy
• feeling like you may die or lose consciousness
• feeling powerless over your fear

Risk factors

Fear of darkness and night often starts in childhood between the ages of 3 and 6. At this point, it may be a normal part of development. It’s also common at this age to fear:

• ghosts
• monsters
• sleeping alone
• strange noises

For many children, sleeping with a nightlight helps until they outgrow the fear. When the fear makes it impossible to sleep, causes severe anxiety, or continues into adulthood, it may be considered nyctophobia.

Treatment for Nyctophobia

The goal of therapy is to challenge fearful beliefs about the dark by replacing negative self-talk with more positive messages.

The rate of successful treatment for specific phobias like nyctophobia is about 90% and often accomplished through techniques drawn from the cognitive-behavioral school of therapy.

The treatment plan your therapist suggests for you or your child may include:

• Exposure to the dark in small, incremental, non-threatening doses in a process called desensitization
• One-on-one talk therapy, family therapy, or group therapy
• Learning relaxation techniques, such as deep breathing
• Anti-anxiety and antidepressant medication

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