Are you afraid of the dark? Do you have panic at night? The fear of darkness is something quite normal in childhood. However, not treating it properly can lead to a phobia. If this is your case, in this article you will find some strategies to overcome this fear.
Fear of darkness or nyctophobia is an irrational fear of night or dark spaces, generated by a distorted perception of the brain of what could happen in those circumstances. Actually, in fear of the dark, it is not the night itself that scares you, but the risks that you imagine you run. Keep reading: Techniques to calm anxiety when dieting
Fear is always willing to see things worse than they are.
In adults fear of the dark should be treated as a phobia. This fear usually comes from specific traumatic memories that occurred in the dark or from childhood terrors that have not been overcome.
Strategies to overcome the fear of darkness
To overcome the fear of darkness, it is necessary to alleviate the pain of the past, usually from our childhood. Confronting your fear rationally is the way to overcome it. You can do it by following the following strategies:
1. Turn off the light voluntarily
People suffering from nyctophobia are usually tired and sleepy. This is because the dream is much more refreshing if you sleep in the dark. Even the dim light prevents deep sleep. The problem is that this fatigue can accentuate the feeling of fear.
People with the fear of the dark can begin to reduce the light gradually at bedtime. By doing it little by little, over several days, it is easier to get used to and get used to the idea, while working on the rest of the strategies.
The simple fact of getting a more restful rest and the consequent improvement of the mood and increase of energy help to motivate each other to sleep with less and less light.
2. Look for a relaxing moment to be in the dark during the day
The day can also provide the opportunity to be in the dark. Find a relaxed moment and voluntarily stay in a dark room. Play relaxing music and try to think of something positive.
The advantage of this formula is that you can control the time you spend in the dark and that, when you finish, you can enjoy natural light, which is very comforting and stimulating. But remember that it must be a personal choice. Must increase the time little as you feel more secure.
3. Challenge your fears
Man on a sofa with nightmares fear of darkness is not the fear of the lack of light, but the thoughts that occupy your mind. Find out what those thoughts are, the true fears, and confront them. If everything happens in your imagination, you can take control and defeat that threat. Do not feel embarrassed and challenge those thoughts.
4. Control your body
Imagination can stimulate fear, but it needs your body to confabulate with the fantasies of your mind so that that fear will take hold of you. Therefore, even if you can not control your thoughts, you can control your body.
One way to control the body is to stop breathing and move for a few seconds. This is what we do unconsciously when we want to get away from an uncomfortable situation without being seen.
After a few seconds, avoid the usual panting that follows these situations and control your breathing by breathing hard, as in a sigh. This stimulates the heart and brings you back to reality. Also, this way of breathing exhales slowly, and strong the air relaxes.
Breathing slowly, concentrating on inhaling and exhaling slowly and with control will also help you control panic attacks and fear of the dark, and help you to enter the dark areas in a controlled way.
5. Change your concept of “darkness”
As you learn to feel relaxed in dark environments, to control your impulses in the absence of light and sleep with less light, you can change your concept of darkness as something beneficial for you. The fear of darkness will go from being a zone of negativity toward becoming an opportunity to rest and relax.
“Even a happy life is not feasible without a measure of darkness, and the word happiness would lose its meaning if it were not balanced with sadness. It is much better to take things as they come, with patience and poise.” You may like also: http://healthyflat.com/how-to-overcome-laziness/
