Nyctophobia- A Disease?

“ Did you finish watching that horror movie?”

Yes!

“ What did it cost?”

36 mini heart attacks and 2 sleepless nights. That’s it.

If you can relate to this, guess what, you are nyctophobic. In simple terms, nyctophobia means the fear of the dark.

But don’t panic, you are not alone. Nyctophobia is the third most common phobia of all phobias, so you are not the only one who sees immortal figures at night. But that does not mean that you shouldn’t take it seriously. Also, guess what? It can go away.

Nyctophobia should not be confused with phasmophobia though. Phasmophobia is the fear of ghosts but nyctophobia includes a lot of things. Fear from anything which has an evil or a dark side.

While this type of phobia cannot surely be referred as a mental disease, it is, however a mental condition. But you do need to go to a psychiatrist for it and again IT SHOULD NOT BE IGNORED.

SO let us talk about it for once.

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
• crying out of stress

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

Basically, a person with nyctophobia sees things that aren’t present there. Not only ghosts or monsters, but they can also imagine that somebody wants to kill them or something. Most people with this condition cannot even sleep alone with the lights switched off, because they are not able to convince their mind that THEY ARE sleeping alone in fact. If you know what I mean.

In my case, for example, whenever I used to sleep alone and I closed my eyes, my mind used to tell me that there was somebody standing inside the room staring at me and I used to end up opening my eyes each time. According to my mom, it was very normal of anybody on this planet to not be able to sleep alone for about 2-3 nights after watching a haunted movie or something and so I do not need a psychiatrist. But you know that you are nyctophobic when there is another haunted movie going on inside your head each day even without taking a glimpse of it on tv. So now, after a lot of persuasions, my mom is convinced to allow me to see a psychologist.

This war is difficult to win and I know it because you have got to fight a long battle with your own mind over here and oh boy your subconscious is more powerful and strong than you know. So, the following are some things you can do to get a strong spell on your own subconscious and overcome this fear of the dark:

1. MEDITATE – This one is very important. It is going to help you to peace out your mind. It will help you get in terms with your subconscious. You can meditate daily for 20- 30 minutes any time of the day.

2. Believe in god- Even if you aren’t a very religious person, just believing that there is a greater force out there that is holding something positive for you can help a lot. And yes, it is tried and tested.

3. Medicate- Yes, there are drugs like Antidepressants and anti-anxiety medications that can control the physical reactions you have to the dark, like racing heart and panic attacks. But this cure is pretty temporary and not really advisable because it may start to affect your health.

4. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy [CBT] – The success rate of this therapy is over 90% and it is very much long-term. You will have to consult a therapist or psychiatrist for this.

5. Avoid watching movies or shows that scare you. This can decrease your level of anxiety at night.

6. Start with little steps. You can start by leaving a little light lamp ON at night and then go to sleeping in complete darkness.

7. CONSULT AAAAA THEERRRRAAAPIISSSSTTT ! Because if you simply don’t, this fear can start to have adverse effects on your health. It will affect the amount and quality of your sleep and cause sleep deprivation. THIS can interfere with our daily life chores. This fear can lead you to take sleeping pills, which as we all know are not trustable enough in regards to our health as well.

And finally,

There aren’t any well-defined causes of this type of fear. It can be genetic or hereditary, if any of your parents have it, there are high chances of them passing it on to you. It can also be caused through the memories of any bad incidents in the past like the death of a loved one, or an accident. Or it can be NATURAL, and it might go away with your growing age.

Lastly, you should definitely not ignore this phobia as it can persist for a lifetime if not taken care of. You should not, however, panic or feel embarrassed because of your fears and should tell your parents asap because these types of phobias are pretty common and can naturally be found in any person. So just cherish your life and realize that there is a bodacious side to the darkness that is waiting to be discovered and admired by you : )