What is Nyctophobia (Fear of the Dark): Causes, Symptoms and Treatments

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.

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What Do People With Nyctophobia Fear?

The situations that people with nyctophobia may fear and tend to avoid are:

Going to a dark place
Turning off lights
Preparing for bed
Watching shows with nighttime scenes
Phase after sunset
Sleeping in the dark at night
Anticipating being in the dark

What Are the Symptoms of Nyctophobia?

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:

Headaches
Dizziness
Dyspnea or shallow breath
Sweating
Rapid heart rate
Cold flush
Hot flush
Chest pain
Unconsciousness

On the other hand, the behavioural signs of nyctophobia are:

Overwhelming anxious feelings
Escaping from dark rooms
Crying, screaming, being violent
Losing control over body and mind

What Causes Nyctophobia?

Nyctophobia can be caused for several reasons. These are as follows:

1. Fear of Unknown

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.

2. A Feeling of Threat

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.

3. Sex Is a Factor

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.

4. Past Traumatic Experience

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.

5. Environmental Factors

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.

What Are the Risk Factors of Nyctophobia?

The potential risk factors of nyctophobia are as follows:

In children, the fear of ghosts, monsters, strange noises, or being alone
Overprotective parenting
A continuously stressful life
Record of phobia in the bloodline
Having anxious caregivers

Thus, these risk factors make people more vulnerable to this disease and may develop serious complications. These are discussed below.

What Are the Complications of Nyctophobia?

Nyctophobia can lead to the following complications:

Insomnia
Extreme anxiety
Extreme fatigue
Relationship problem
Behavioural disorder

Apart from these, one may get different co-occurring phobias, such as

Thanatophobia or fear of dying
Sominophobia or afraid of sleeping
Oneirophobia or afraid of dreaming

What Is the Diagnosis of Nyctophobia?

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:

Whether they have trouble sleeping
How intense is their fear of darkness
Other underlying conditions of the patients

In severe cases, physicians give immediate care to the patients when people start having tremors and breathing troubles due to nyctophobia.

What Are the Treatments of 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.

1. Medication

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.

2. Behavioural Therapies

Several types of therapies are available to treat nyctophobia from its root. These are as follows:

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy: In this treatment, psychotherapists help people with behavioural disorders manage their emotions and actions during extreme anxiety. Thus, this treatment will guide people with nyctophobia on how to respond to the fear of darkness.
Exposure Therapy: In exposure therapy, people gradually get exposed to the elements or environments they are afraid of. This therapy teaches people with nyctophobia to be familiar with darkness and get out from the fear of it.
Psychotherapy: It is a talk therapy where psychotherapists try to bring out the real reason for fear with conversation. Further, they also suggest remedial measures to handle these fears.
Virtual Reality Therapy: VR therapy is one of the most modern ways to help a patient become accustomed to the darkness. In this process, they gradually witness darkness with the help of a VR headset or computer.

How Long Can the Effect of Nyctophobia Last?

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.

How to Cope With Nyctophobia?

One can follow the below-mentioned tips to cope with nyctophobia:

Facing the Fear: To get rid of nyctophobia, you should face the darkness on your own. This will grow tolerance and help you to fight the fear.
Using Nightlight: A nightlight can help you to manage your fear of sleeping alone in darkness very effectively. This will give you a sense of comfort and help you cope with the anticipation of fear.
Join a Group Therapy: By joining an anxiety support group, you can get support from your peers. Besides, group discussions can bring out effective solutions to manage the fear of darkness.
Think Differently With Logic: One of the main reasons for nyctophobia is negative thoughts regarding it. So you need to reframe your thoughts and have a positive attitude towards dark places. Besides, you should reduce illogical thoughts with rational intervention.
A Calm Bed-Time Ritual: You should be comfortable and reduce stress and anxiety when going to bed. To do so, you can take a nice warm bath, wear comfortable clothes, spray some light fume etc. Therefore, you can get a stress-free and sound sleep.

Apart from these, you should practice mindfulness and keep your body healthy to fight any kind of adversity regarding the anxiety disorder of nyctophobia.

When to See a Doctor?

If you experience the following conditions, you should consult a doctor immediately:

Little to no sleep out of fear
Depression
Severe panic attacks
Getting into substance use disorder
Problem of OCD
Coming of other phobias

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.

Frequently Asked Questions

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How to overcome nyctophobia?

One can get medical and behavioural therapies simultaneously to overcome the adversity of nyctophobia.

What is a systematic desensitization remedy for nyctophobia?

Systematic desensitization is a kind of exposure therapy where people slowly get exposed to a larger amount of darkness and are taught how to manage situations.