Why Are Humans Afraid Of The Dark?

Mankind has always feared darkness. From kids to adults, each one of us is equally scared of dark rooms for their reasons. Children under the bracket of 4-6 years of age are the most likely to be scared of darkness, and it is not until they turn nine that this darkness doesn’t seem that scary to them. But there still is a good 5% of adults who too fear the darkness which has majorly affected their sleep.

Psychological studies reason the hard wiring of kids to be the primary cause of their fear of darkness, which is instilled in them since childhood. The primary explanation for this is the fear of being eaten or taken away by the predators. Any squeaking floorboard, crackling shutter, or random knocks in the night fill them with terror. Therefore, most of the horror movies have familiar scenes of ghosts or witches pulling kids off their beds in the nights.

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Most of these fears come from specific personal life experiences whereas others are just universal or innate. The extreme form of fear of darkness is known as nyctophobia or achluophobia. They say that the fear of darkness is not because of the darkness, it’s because of the inability to see the things that are hidden under it. One feels exposed, helpless and to some extent even vulnerable because of the absence of light. They feel like they cannot stop or prevent the dangers coming their way. Darkness gives the illusion of some unexposed dangers. For the majority of history dark has always been connected to danger, and as a precautionary measure, we try to stay away from it.

Nyctophobia is characterized by a stark fear of the dark. It gets prompted by the brain’s defaced perception of the numerous possibilities of bad things happening in the dark environment. Such feelings can also trigger due to unsteady or scared mind because of some recent happenings or incidence which may include witnessing a vulgar action or watching a horror movie. The state of Nyctophobia can cause breathlessness, excessive sweating, nausea, dry mouth, sick feeling, trembling, heart palpation or a completely blank mind leading to inability to speak or react.

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The fear of the darkness can be traced through little reactions like a panicked scream when the lights go off or insomnia which causes anxiety. This raises your awareness towards the environment you are residing in.

Another reason behind such fears is the outcomes of generation upon generation of early humans who reacted and afterward prepared for dangers such as these. Apart from the fear of darkness, the fear of fire, spiders, snakes, and predators have also prevailed for centuries.

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Fear of darkness goes away for some after reaching a certain age but sticks longer for others. It cannot be taken away at once. Keeping the lights on in the night causes sleep disturbances leading to irritation, crankiness and eventually insomnia. The anxiety caused due to restlessness hinders our ability to act rationally.

Fear of darkness is okay until it works as a defense mechanism and keeps us safe from the dangers that breed in the darkness, but they should be addressed with full seriousness if it causes restlessness or insomnia.

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