How to overcome the fear of darkness?

Sticky enveloping cold horror, clutching the heart ... Many are familiar with the sensations that give rise to the fear of darkness. From what and when does this feeling arise, and most importantly, how is it possible to get rid of it?

Childhood fears

Fear of darkness in a teenager is often old childhood fears. They arise at an early age, during periods of special insecurity. It can give rise to a loud sound in a dark room, and the stirring of curtains, and creaking of a bed. Probably, this is due to the fact that the darkness is not clear, frightening. And it is not known what the enemy is and where he hid ... And the fact that you can not see, frightens especially, because the imagination of the child is boundless.

Actually, if something is scared in the darkness - a wolf, Babai or someone else, this is a fairly simple situation, which is not difficult to cope with. But if the cause of the horror is not clear, it is more likely that the child is afraid of surprises. He needs at least a minimum of illumination, if only not to be alone with his fears, otherwise he begins to feel that there is no salvation, danger everywhere. In such cases, the child often cries, tries to detain parents in the room or to come to them.

How to help

First of all, parents need to understand that the fear of darkness is a frequent phenomenon, which means that many have already passed this way. Of course, every child is unique, but the ways of treatment are more or less universal.

Like other diseases, this is easier to prevent than cure the existing disease. There are a number of ways for both prevention and for getting rid of fear.

The most common method of treatment is to portray fear. The resulting image must be destroyed: crush the sheet, burn it in the presence of the child. All terrible tentacles cut off, paws to tear off, do everything to make the child see that with his fear to cope easily.

If there is a character who caused fear of darkness, you can fight him "his own weapon." For this it is necessary to take as a basis a fairy tale or a story about it and to alter it in such a way that the other characters can easily be dealt with by the villain and celebrate it.

Kids will be clearer if one of the toys will "protect" them. A teddy bear who has not slept all night with eyes will drive away the most terrible monsters from the child. The main thing in this situation is that the baby himself chooses his "bodyguard", because you do not know exactly which animal will cope better with the monsters of the child.

It is useful to play blind man's buffoons or hide and seek in a darkened room - in such a situation, children can go a little further than the fears usually allow. In the period of struggle, an excellent solution will be a flashlight, which can be turned on at the slightest sign of "danger." This will help the child to fight fear, because he knows that he can "be saved" at any time, and this gives him the courage to stay in the dark for a little longer.

Prevention

In order to not think about how to get rid of the fear of darkness at a more mature age, you can try to prevent it from appearing in childhood. From all you will not be saved, but nevertheless it is necessary to exclude the main reasons:

• Be attentive to what the child is watching on TV. Based on the degree of impressionism of the child, it is necessary to give or close access to certain cartoons or scenes in the cinema.
• You do not have to play active games in the evening, do not read new stories, do not watch new cartoons.
• In the nursery but the night should be removed toys, so that in the dark they did not seem terrible monsters.
• In no case should you laugh at someone else's fears, cowardice, because ridicule can lead to concealment of your child's problems. This, in turn, leads to an increase in fear, from which it will be very difficult to get rid of.

Culture of darkness

The attention of scientists, philosophers, and philistines has long attracted darkness. Darkness, darkness, blackness are interesting in that anything can hide in them, including evil.

Western poets associated darkness with depression, danger, despondency. Most religions mention darkness in connection with something bad. For example, in the Bible, darkness is one of the types of Egyptian executions. In addition, this place is "crying and gnashing of teeth."

In the Qur'an, darkness awaits all sinners. Thus, for religion, the pitch darkness is the ending waiting for sinners, a kind of analogue of hell and complete evil.

Fear

Fear of darkness in medicine is called nitropobia. Most often it manifests itself in childhood, but it is not uncommon for a person to have fear of darkness throughout his life. Psychology argues that such perennial unsolvable problems can develop into a phobia.

As a result of observations, it becomes clear that although adults may be afraid of the dark, they still try to fight this feeling. However, they also try to include at night a minimum of lighting, do not leave the house in the evening and at night, do not use transitions without light and use other tricks to help control the fear of darkness. In adults, this is carefully concealed.

However, in rare cases, no-one can turn into a mental disorder, for the treatment of which specialist help is needed. Sometimes even methods require the patient to be placed in a hospital.

Causes

In order to know how to overcome the fear of darkness, you need to know what it originated from. The causes of this disease have been studied by scientists of different countries for several centuries. The result of these studies was a list of the most obvious reasons, but it is unlikely to be complete today.

1. Genetic predisposition. Scientists believe that any fear can be inherited. Nobofobia is not an exception - it is often at the genetic level that it is transmitted to descendants.
2. Limited body capacity. Much of the information a person receives with the help of vision. It is in this way that the brain learns about the dangers and how it can be avoided. But if there is darkness around, then a person is deprived of the opportunity to learn about what surrounds him. And this helplessness is the cause of fear.
3. Uncertainty. Since in the dark can not assess the degree of danger and find ways to eliminate it, a person is tortured by the unknown. And this is precisely the desire to avoid this and forces a person to avoid meeting with darkness.
4. Past. We all come from childhood, so various incidents at an early age can lead to the fear of darkness in adulthood. For example, terrible stories about a dark room, punishment in a room without light - are there any reasons to be frightened in childhood?

Treatment

No disease can be ignored, as is the fear of darkness in adults. Treatment will not be the easiest, but it's worth it. If you feel that the disease is started, it is better to consult a specialist. However, sometimes you can try to solve the problem yourself

1. Determination. Do your affairs regardless of fears. If you need to go into a room without light, you should do it. Is it scary to go out in the dark? Get a dog and then, willy-nilly, you'll have to walk with her in the evening. Fear will recede, and walking with a friend is not so frightening.

2. Evaluation. Just imagine what the action will be. So, stepping into the darkness, you need to know that the flashlight first turns on, then you need to open the door, get to the car, etc.

3. To make a decision. Just decide that it's time to stop being afraid. The time of fear has passed.

4. Analysis. Thoroughly consider where the fear originates, how real it is, how real the danger is. You should imagine how you can get rid of it. Fear, lost mentally, becomes much weaker.

5. Training. Courage also needs "charging". Overcome your phobias gradually. For example, to start at dusk do not turn on the light, going into the twilight. Then you can gradually move forward and in a dark room: turn on the light for a second later than yesterday, let yourself go into the unlit room for a couple of moments, etc.

Conclusion

So why is man so afraid of darkness for centuries? What is hidden in its gloomy depths? Perhaps this is simply the original fear of death, which destroys the very concept of life? The sages of the Ancient East said that the most terrible evil was going on in the daylight, and the most terrible gloom was in the soul of the evil man. And instead of constantly being afraid of the dark, it is better to light at least a tiny candle.