I'm afraid of nighttime?

[King]

You should try to get a night shift somewhere. Would suit your lifestyle very nicely.

[Sam]

I used to be scared of the dark up until I'd say 11 years old. I do sometimes feel a bit freaked out if I stand on my drive at like 1-2am. I think the lack of noise doesn't help.

I would say, when sleeping gradually reduce the amount of lights you have on until there's none and you feel comfortable.

[SoulCake.]

You should try to get a night shift somewhere. Would suit your lifestyle very nicely.

The only thing I'm good at is taking care of kids. There's not a very high demand for nightshift nannies.

Hey Cykn,

I too am scared of the dark, not as much now as I used to be but I still get really scared if I was to go downstairs at night, even with the lights on. I don't see it as not being healthy, in fact, it's been proven that a fear of the dark is one of the most common fears out of them all. I'm not sure what you can do, I reckon the fear will decrease as you get older, it did for me. As I said I'm not fully over it as I still get scared going downstairs but if I look back 5 years ago, I'd have to have my light on in my room, now I don't have to. There is a weird feeling I get sometimes still that I would be sitting up in my bed and I'd get a feeling that something's behind me, that freaks me out. So basically in short I'm afraid you're just going to have to stick it out for now. I've never had a problem with closing my eyes though, how long has that been going on?

~BreShiE

I can have every light on in the house at night and still be scared. Not nearly as scared as I would be if it was dark, but pretty freakin scared.
I'm not sure exactly how long it's been this way. I can't remember not being afraid, but there must have been a time when I wasn't.

[Hei]

I also had this , well what I was doing that switch on the mp3player and put a headphone but at a low volume , much enough so that I couldn't hear outside noise but not too loud that it may damage my ears. And have some pretty slow songs on the playlist. Get bored listing the song and sleep.

[BreShiE]

Hey Cykn,

I too am scared of the dark, not as much now as I used to be but I still get really scared if I was to go downstairs at night, even with the lights on. I don't see it as not being healthy, in fact, it's been proven that a fear of the dark is one of the most common fears out of them all. I'm not sure what you can do, I reckon the fear will decrease as you get older, it did for me. As I said I'm not fully over it as I still get scared going downstairs but if I look back 5 years ago, I'd have to have my light on in my room, now I don't have to. There is a weird feeling I get sometimes still that I would be sitting up in my bed and I'd get a feeling that something's behind me, that freaks me out. So basically in short I'm afraid you're just going to have to stick it out for now. I've never had a problem with closing my eyes though, how long has that been going on?

~BreShiE

I can have every light on in the house at night and still be scared. Not nearly as scared as I would be if it was dark, but pretty freakin scared.
I'm not sure exactly how long it's been this way. I can't remember not being afraid, but there must have been a time when I wasn't.

I would still be scared, if I was to here a noise outside I would freak out, especially if I was on my own, but at least I can cope with it on, if it was off I would not be able to go downstairs, not sure why. But as I said, it is a natural fear, and is very common, you just have really bad, the severity of it seems quite bad but it is still common. If you're terribly bothered by it then I suggest visiting your doctor.

[SoulCake.]

I would still be scared, if I was to here a noise outside I would freak out, especially if I was on my own, but at least I can cope with it on, if it was off I would not be able to go downstairs, not sure why. But as I said, it is a natural fear, and is very common, you just have really bad, the severity of it seems quite bad but it is still common. If you're terribly bothered by it then I suggest visiting your doctor.

I'm still a minor, I have no control over when I can go to a doctor.

[BreShiE]

I'm still a minor, I have no control over when I can go to a doctor.

There's so much difference between the UK and the US it's unreal, here we get to chose what we want to do from 16...

Ask you parents if they will take you then.

[SoulCake.]

There's so much difference between the UK and the US it's unreal, here we get to chose what we want to do from 16...

Ask you parents if they will take you then.

Any time I try to tell my mother I need any sort of professional help, she says I'm making it up in an attempt to manipulate her.

[skorch]

At night I feel more paranoid than anything. If I'm walking down street I always have to be looking back and around.

Just in case, you know you wouldn't want to ran into a robber.

Or the cookie monster.

[lover and fighter]

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.