01-10-2012, 07:22 PM
Like an earlier poster asked, I think you should really try to remember when this fear came about. Fears are really just beliefs that something bad will happen, and luckily beliefs can be influenced and changed with the right efforts. I think it's great that you can recognize what your fear is (a fear of darkness and especially nighttime in general), and yes this is a very common fear for most of us *from time to time* but if you are finding it's causing you issues on a daily basis, try to reach the root of the fear. It's possible that something very specific happened along the way to spawn this fear. Think about an upsetting event that made you feel the same way you feel at night. I have this theory that all fears are directly connected to traumatizing events. when similar situations or conditions happen it reminds us of the initial trauma and we revert back to the original emotional reaction and experience it again whether it's justified or not. Once you uncover it, you may be able to work through it yourself. I also like the idea an earlier poster had about gradually dimming the lights, but not really sure if that will work for you if can't sleep at night even when the lights are on.