Our WhatsApp number cannot be used for calls. This is a chat only number.
Nyctophobia, or the fear of darkness, is one of the most common phobias and is mainly prevalent among children. However, this phobia can also be seen in grown-ups and people with other psychological complications. Like any other phobia, nyctophobia also has symptoms of extreme panic attacks such as anxiety, restlessness, disturbed sleep, etc. Scroll through this article to know more about this phobia, its causes, symptoms, treatments and other related facts.
The situations that people with nyctophobia may fear and tend to avoid are:
Nyctophobia symptoms are associated with the usual symptoms of anxiety and panic attacks. In addition, children who are afraid of darkness may refuse to stay or sleep alone in dark. The physical signs of nyctophobia include:
On the other hand, the behavioural signs of nyctophobia are:
Nyctophobia can be caused for several reasons. These are as follows:
For some people, nyctophobia can stem from the fear of the unknown. Generally, people get this feeling more in darkness and develop an uncontrollable fear. However, this feeling can sometimes be temporary and not happen in familiar places.
This is one of the most common causes of getting nyctophobia. Most of the time, people encounter crime or unwanted situations in darkness. Besides, they also see this in movies where night and darkness are related to harmful circumstances. So they grow a fear of night and darkness.
Studies show that women are more prone to nyctophobia than men. This is because women maximum time get exploited during nighttime which keeps them vulnerable to face the darkness. However, this is a societal cause that should be rectified with proper laws and regulations.
Any past traumatic experiences in the nighttime can grow nyctophobia among people. This is a prevalent cause of nyctophobia among most patients. So, this can also be addressed as a post-traumatic stress disorder.
Sometimes environment plays a significant role in developing nyctophobia among children. For example, in different cultures, children are brought up in different environments with different care. As a result, some of them stay protected, while some of them are not. So, the children who have not faced darkness or stayed alone in darkness may grow a fear of it in the later stages.
The potential risk factors of nyctophobia are as follows:
Thus, these risk factors make people more vulnerable to this disease and may develop serious complications. These are discussed below.
Nyctophobia can lead to the following complications:
Apart from these, one may get different co-occurring phobias, such as
Like most other phobias, nyctophobia is also diagnosed as per the criteria of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. As per these criteria, a doctor will check the following disorders in the patients:
In severe cases, physicians give immediate care to the patients when people start having tremors and breathing troubles due to nyctophobia.
With the new invention of medical science, treatments for different phobias are pretty much available nowadays. However, the nyctophobia treatment is also similar to the treatment of other phobias. Therefore, this treatment is of 2 types: medicinal and behavioural. These are discussed below.
As nyctophobia is associated with restlessness and anxiety, doctors will prescribe calming medicines to control anxiety. Further, they will also prescribe some medicines for better sleep if the patient experiences frequent exhaustion. However, medicines are only for reducing the symptoms and immediate effects. Therefore, people will need effective behavioural therapies to come out from nyctophobia.
Several types of therapies are available to treat nyctophobia from its root. These are as follows:
Like many other phobias, nyctophobia can last upto several years and even decades if untreated. However, with proper therapies and care, one can easily get out from nyctophobia.
One can follow the below-mentioned tips to cope with nyctophobia:
Apart from these, you should practice mindfulness and keep your body healthy to fight any kind of adversity regarding the anxiety disorder of nyctophobia.
If you experience the following conditions, you should consult a doctor immediately:
Thus, hope you have got a comprehensive idea of nyctophobia and how to handle it. Like many other phobias, the fear of darkness is also treatable if identified at the right time. Generally, children are more prone to nyctophobia, so parents should be attentive to them and opt for treatment in case of severity. Further, adults should go for effective therapies and try to keep a positive approach towards solving this phobia.
Please try one more time!
Disclaimer #1: *Customer can choose options at the time of availing insurance. Premium amount may vary accordingly. Insured is required to disclose any pre-existing condition or on going treatment before policy issuance in the proposal form.
Disclaimer #2: This information is added only for informative purposes and collected from different sources across the Internet. Digit Insurance is not promoting or recommending anything here. Please verify the information before making any decisions.
Continue with {{bikeCtrl.lastVisitedData.lastVisitedUrl.indexOf('DigitPaymentGateway/payments')
!== -1 ? 'payment completion': 'previous choice'}}
